SummaryThe reliability and validity of a naloxone rating scale (CINA) for assessing opioid dependence were studied in 75 opiate‐abusing patients. Patients received 0.4 mg naloxone IV, and the naloxone‐precipitated withdrawal effects were systematically measured at three five minute intervals using the 13‐item CINA scale. The reliability coefficient alpha of the total withdrawal score was 0.81. The item scores and total score were correlated well except for nasal congestion, abdominal pain, and muscle pain. The inter‐rater reliability of the total scores for the two raters was 0.93. The final methadone dose used in the treatment of individual patients was regressed on the CINA score. The simple regression equation was: METHADONE DOSE=11.2+ 0.72 CINA SCORE. This equation accounted for 69% of the variance of the final dose. By including a quadratic term, the prediction of the final methadone dose was improved by 3% (or a total of 72% of the variance); the regression equation was: METHADONE DOSE=4.36+1.26 CINA SCORE—0.01 CINA SCORE.2 The relatively large correlation (above 0.83) between CINA and the final methadone dose may be taken as an indication of the validity of the CINA score.

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In six male alcoholic volunteers, oral administration of calcium carbimide (0.7 mg/kg) before ingestion of ethanol (0.5 g/kg) produced an interaction consisting of increased blood acetaldehyde level, tachycardia and increased pulse pressure, which was due mainly to decreased diastolic blood pressure. For these experimental conditions, calcium carbimide had a duration of action of at least 24 h to produce an interaction with ethanol. The order of intensity of the interaction with regard to the calcium carbimide pretreatment time interval was 4 greater than 8 approximately 12 greater than 24 h. Using the criterion of heart rate above 100 as indicative of the calcium carbimide-ethanol interaction, the onset was 0.13, 0.25, 0.25 and 0.38 h for the 4-, 8-, 12- and 24-h pretreatment experiments and the duration of the interaction was 1.6, 1.0, 1.0 and 0.12 h, respectively. There were positive linear correlations between acetaldehyde level and heart rate and between acetaldehyde level and pulse pressure. There was appreciable interindividual variability in the heart rate and blood pressure responses. Increased blood acetaldehyde level seemed to be required for the physiological changes to occur. Calcium carbimide pretreatment at the 4-h interval produced increased blood ethanol level for the last hour of the interaction and reduced the rate of ethanol metabolism.

A simple and reliable method was developed for rating the dose-related behavioural effects of methamphetamine in male Swiss Albino mice for acute or chronic drug treatment. This procedure was based on a frequency count of certain behaviours made at 15-min intervals over a 90-min period following drug administration. The Fisher Randomization procedure was adapted to analyze behavioural data for the chronic studies. Clear-cut, dose-related behavioural responses occurred following acute (+)-methamphetamine administration and ranged from decreased quiescence (0.64 mg/kg) through increased locomotor activity (2.5 mg/kg), a mixture of stereotyped behaviour and increased locomotor activity (5.0 and 7.5 mg/kg), to primarily stereotyped gnawing, licking or sniffing (10 mg/kg). In studies involving chronic administration of (+)-methamphetamine at 0.64, 2.5 and 10 mg/kg conducted over six and seven weeks, behavioural responses were more exaggerated than in acute studies. All behaviours returned to normal levels in the recovery week except for locomotor activity at the 10 mg/kg dosage. In some animals, chronic treatment with 10 mg/kg (+)-methamphetamine led to protracted self-tearing that replaced the gnawing, licking, sniffing stereotype.

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