Abstract
A 24-year old woman with multisubstance use since the age of 13, including opioids and cocaine, and long-standing HIV/HCV seropositivity status, presented with psychosis, agitation, and insomnia at the emergency department of a university hospital. She had been abusive and physically aggressive frequently without specific reasons and was involved in criminal legal cases. She was hospitalized twice. During her first hospital stay she experienced a brief episode of detachment from her environment, similar to episodes reportedly suffered at home. Psychosis had developed following heavy polysubstance abuse. Her mother provided sachets containing benzylglycinamide, a substance with no known psychotropic effects, which were also present in the patient's urine. She was occasionally positive for cannabinoids. She used to buy various novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) from the internet and used experimentally various substances freely made available to her by drug suppliers/dealers. She was unable to explain clearly why she was taking any of the identified NPS. She stated she was taking benzylglycinamide to calm her when smoking synthetic cannabinoids. While it appears that benzylglycinamide is not likely to constitute a novel drug of abuse, her polysubstance use exemplifies trends in NPS use patterns among the youths in the Western world and should alert mental health workers as to the possible dangers of such behavior and its reflection on social behavior and psychopathology.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 53-57 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Addictive Behaviors |
| Volume | 60 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sep 1 2016 |
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Keywords
- Benzylglycinamide
- Drug abuse
- Drug-induced psychosis
- HCV infection
- HIV infection
- New psychoactive substances
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Clinical Psychology
- Toxicology
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
Cite this
Use of benzylglycinamide by a HIV-seropositive polysubstance user : The changing pattern of novel psychoactive substance use among youths. / Caloro, Matteo; Calabrò, Giuseppa; Kotzalidis, Georgios D.; Cuomo, Ilaria; Corkery, John M.; Vento, Alessandro Emiliano; Lionetto, Luana; De Filippis, Sergio; Ranieri, Valentina; Lonati, Davide; Locatelli, Carlo Alessandro; de Pisa, Eleonora; Di Tommaso, Antonio; Girardi, Paolo; Schifano, Fabrizio.
In: Addictive Behaviors, Vol. 60, 01.09.2016, p. 53-57.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Use of benzylglycinamide by a HIV-seropositive polysubstance user
T2 - The changing pattern of novel psychoactive substance use among youths
AU - Caloro, Matteo
AU - Calabrò, Giuseppa
AU - Kotzalidis, Georgios D.
AU - Cuomo, Ilaria
AU - Corkery, John M.
AU - Vento, Alessandro Emiliano
AU - Lionetto, Luana
AU - De Filippis, Sergio
AU - Ranieri, Valentina
AU - Lonati, Davide
AU - Locatelli, Carlo Alessandro
AU - de Pisa, Eleonora
AU - Di Tommaso, Antonio
AU - Girardi, Paolo
AU - Schifano, Fabrizio
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - A 24-year old woman with multisubstance use since the age of 13, including opioids and cocaine, and long-standing HIV/HCV seropositivity status, presented with psychosis, agitation, and insomnia at the emergency department of a university hospital. She had been abusive and physically aggressive frequently without specific reasons and was involved in criminal legal cases. She was hospitalized twice. During her first hospital stay she experienced a brief episode of detachment from her environment, similar to episodes reportedly suffered at home. Psychosis had developed following heavy polysubstance abuse. Her mother provided sachets containing benzylglycinamide, a substance with no known psychotropic effects, which were also present in the patient's urine. She was occasionally positive for cannabinoids. She used to buy various novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) from the internet and used experimentally various substances freely made available to her by drug suppliers/dealers. She was unable to explain clearly why she was taking any of the identified NPS. She stated she was taking benzylglycinamide to calm her when smoking synthetic cannabinoids. While it appears that benzylglycinamide is not likely to constitute a novel drug of abuse, her polysubstance use exemplifies trends in NPS use patterns among the youths in the Western world and should alert mental health workers as to the possible dangers of such behavior and its reflection on social behavior and psychopathology.
AB - A 24-year old woman with multisubstance use since the age of 13, including opioids and cocaine, and long-standing HIV/HCV seropositivity status, presented with psychosis, agitation, and insomnia at the emergency department of a university hospital. She had been abusive and physically aggressive frequently without specific reasons and was involved in criminal legal cases. She was hospitalized twice. During her first hospital stay she experienced a brief episode of detachment from her environment, similar to episodes reportedly suffered at home. Psychosis had developed following heavy polysubstance abuse. Her mother provided sachets containing benzylglycinamide, a substance with no known psychotropic effects, which were also present in the patient's urine. She was occasionally positive for cannabinoids. She used to buy various novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) from the internet and used experimentally various substances freely made available to her by drug suppliers/dealers. She was unable to explain clearly why she was taking any of the identified NPS. She stated she was taking benzylglycinamide to calm her when smoking synthetic cannabinoids. While it appears that benzylglycinamide is not likely to constitute a novel drug of abuse, her polysubstance use exemplifies trends in NPS use patterns among the youths in the Western world and should alert mental health workers as to the possible dangers of such behavior and its reflection on social behavior and psychopathology.
KW - Benzylglycinamide
KW - Drug abuse
KW - Drug-induced psychosis
KW - HCV infection
KW - HIV infection
KW - New psychoactive substances
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962800123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84962800123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.03.032
DO - 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.03.032
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962800123
VL - 60
SP - 53
EP - 57
JO - Addictive Behaviors
JF - Addictive Behaviors
SN - 0306-4603
ER -