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A survey of motives and attitudes associated with patterns of nonmedical prescription opioid medication use among college students was conducted on Facebook, a popular online social networking Web site. Response metrics for a 2-week random advertisement post, targeting students who had misused prescription medications, surpassed typical benchmarks for online marketing campaigns and yielded 527 valid surveys. Respondent characteristics, substance use patterns, and use motives were consistent with other surveys of prescription opioid use among college populations. Results support the potential of online social networks to serve as powerful vehicles to connect with college-aged populations about their drug use. Limitations of the study are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College students who have high stress levels tend to experience an increased risk of academic difficulties, substance abuse, and emotional problems. To enhance student stress management and health promoting behaviors, an online stress management intervention called MyStudentBody-Stress (MyStudentBody-Stress) was developed and tested. College students at six U.S. colleges were randomized to one of three conditions: MyStudentBody-Stress, a control health information website, or no intervention. The differences between groups on stress control and health behavior measures were compared at baseline, and at 1, 3, and 6 months after baseline. Although there were no between-group differences on primary outcome variables, secondary analyses indicated that MyStudentBody-Stress participants were more likely to increase weekly physical activity, use specific stress management methods, and exhibit decreased anxiety and family problems. These findings indicate some potentially beneficial effects of online stress management programming for college students. Implications for college health practitioners are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives. The pain associated with percutaneous procedures is a significant source of distress in clinical practice, especially in children. Topical anesthetics require 30–60 minutes to provide skin anesthesia; with iontophoresis, they minimally require 10 minutes, and with ultrasound pretreatment, 5 minutes. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of providing skin anesthesia to needle prick with the combination of ultrasound pretreatment and 2-minute low-voltage (1 mA) iontophoresis. We compared it with sham-ultrasound pretreatment and with standard, 10-minute high-voltage (4 mA) iontophoresis. Methods. This is a single-blind, randomized, controlled, crossover study in healthy volunteers, specifically for the purpose of the study subjected to standardized needle prick. They rated the absolute pain associated with the needle prick on a 10-cm visual analog scale, with 0 being “no pain” and 10 being “extremely painful.” Results. Of the 31 subjects who consented to the study, 30 were randomized and completed the study. The mean duration of the ultrasound pretreatment was 21.4 seconds (range: 6–85). The absolute pain scores for the ultrasound plus 2-minute low-voltage iontophoresis and the standard, 10-minute high-voltage iontophoresis were not statistically significantly different (0.9 ± 0.31 vs 0.46 ± 0.20; P = 0.49). However, they were statistically significantly different from the sham-ultrasound plus 2-minute low-voltage iontophoresis pain score (2.6 ± 0.55) ( P = 0.0001 and 0.0012, respectively). Conclusions. Ultrasound pretreatment plus 2-minute low-voltage iontophoresis provides better skin anesthesia than sham-ultrasound plus 2-minute low-voltage iontophoresis, and similar to standard, 10-minute high-voltage iontophoresis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To assess the therapeutic potential of fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibition with FT‐4101, a potent, selective, orally bioavailable, small‐molecule by (a) evaluating the dose−response of single FT‐4101 doses (3, 6 and 9 mg) on hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) in healthy participants (Study 1) and (b) demonstrating the safety, tolerability and efficacy on hepatic steatosis after 12 weeks of FT‐4101 dosing in patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD; Study 2). Materials and Methods: In Study 1, three sequential cohorts of healthy men (n = 10/cohort) were randomized to receive a single dose of FT‐4101 (n = 5/cohort) or placebo (n = 5/cohort) followed by crossover dosing after 7 days. Hepatic DNL was assessed during fructose stimulation from 13C‐acetate incorporation. In Study 2, men and women with NAFLD (n = 14) randomly received 12 weeks of intermittent once‐daily dosing (four cycles of 2 weeks on‐treatment, followed by 1 week off‐treatment) of 3 mg FT‐4101 (n = 9) or placebo (n = 5). Steady‐state DNL based on deuterated water labelling, hepatic steatosis using magnetic resonance imaging‐proton density fat fraction and sebum lipids and circulating biomarkers were assessed. Results: Single and repeat dosing of FT‐4101 were safe and well tolerated. Single FT‐4101 doses inhibited hepatic DNL dose‐dependently. Twelve weeks of 3 mg FT‐4101 treatment improved hepatic steatosis and inhibited hepatic DNL. Decreases in sebum sapienate content with FT‐4101 at week 11 were not significant compared to placebo and rebounded at week 12. Biomarkers of liver function, glucose and lipid metabolism were unchanged. Conclusions: Inhibition of FASN with 3 mg FT‐4101 safely reduces hepatic DNL and steatosis in NAFLD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aberrant toll-like receptors (TLRs) 7, 8, and 9 activation by self-nucleic acids is implicated in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) such as psoriasis. In preclinical IMID models, blocking TLR-activation reduced disease severity. IMO-8400 is a first-in-class, oligonucleotide-based antagonist of TLRs 7, 8, and 9. We evaluated the short-term safety and proof-of-concept for efficacy of IMO-8400 in a first-in-patient phase 2 trial. Methods Forty-six psoriasis patients were randomly assigned to IMO-8400 in four dose levels or placebo for 12 weeks. Post-treatment follow-up was seven weeks. Primary outcome was incidence of adverse events. Secondary, exploratory outcomes included changes in psoriasis area and severity index (PASI). Results IMO-8400 across all dose levels did not cause any serious or severe adverse events. The most common treatment-related adverse events were dose-dependent injection-site reactions. All IMO-8400 groups showed clinical improvement, but a clear dose-response relationship and statistically significant differences with placebo were not observed ( P = 0.26). Eleven (38%) of 29 subjects on IMO-8400 achieved ≥ 50% PASI-reduction, compared to 1 (11%) of 9 subjects on placebo. Five (17%) and 2 (7%) IMO-8400-treated subjects achieved PASI-75 and PASI-90, respectively, compared to none on placebo. Conclusions Short-term IMO-8400-treatment was well tolerated and reduced psoriasis severity. These findings warrant further investigation of endosomal TLR-antagonism as a therapeutic approach in psoriasis and other TLR-mediated IMIDs. Trial registration EudraCT 2013-000164-28 and Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01899729 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]