Medical consequences of drug abuse and co-occurring infections: research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Substance abuse still remains one of the major problems in the world today, with millions of people abusing legal and illegal drugs. In addition, a billion people may also be infected with one or more infections. Both drugs of abuse and infections are associated with enormous burden of social, economic, and health consequences. This article briefly discusses a few medical consequences of drugs of abuse and infections such as human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus, psychiatric complications in hepatitis C infection, pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions among medications used in the treatment of addiction and infections, and new drugs in development for the treatment of infections. Research is encouraged to study interactions between infections, drugs of abuse, and underlying pathophysiologic and molecular/genetic mechanisms of these interactions.
Khalsa
Jag H
JH
National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. jk98p@nih.gov
Treisman
Glenn
G
McCance-Katz
Elinore
E
Tedaldi
Ellen
E
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D015897:Comorbidity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D054577:National Institute on Drug Abuse (U.S.); D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents