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Browsing by Author "Catalani, Valeria"
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Assessing the Pharmacological Properties of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Identified Online: In Silico Studies on Designer Benzodiazepines and Novel Synthetic Opioids
Catalani, Valeria (2022-12-09)Background By 2022, a total of 1,127 of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) have been identified worldwide and officially reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Monitoring Centre ... -
Benefits and Harms of 'Smart Drugs' (Nootropics) in Healthy Individuals
Schifano, Fabrizio; Catalani, Valeria; Sharif, Safia (Sophia); Napoletano, Flavia; Corkery, John; Arillotta, Davide; Fergus, Suzanne; Vento, Alessandro; Guirguis, Amira (2022-04-02)‘Smart drugs’ (also known as ‘nootropics’ and ‘cognitive enhancers’ [CEs]) are being used by healthy subjects (i.e. students and workers) typically to improve memory, attention, learning, executive functions and vigilance, ... -
Benzodiazepine Boom: Tracking Etizolam, Pyrazolam, and Flubromazepam from Pre-UK Psychoactive Act 2016 to Present Using Analytical and Social Listening Techniques
Mullin, Anthony; Scott, Mark; Vaccaro, Giorgia; Floresta, Giuseppe; Arillotta, Davide; Catalani, Valeria; Corkery, John M; Stair, Jacqueline L; Schifano, Fabrizio; Guirguis, Amira (2024-01-12)Introduction: The designer benzodiazepine (DBZD) market continues to expand whilst evading regulatory controls. The widespread adoption of social media by pro-drug use communities encourages positive discussions around ... -
Designer Benzodiazepines’ Activity on Opioid Receptors: A Docking Study
Catalani, Valeria; Botha, Michelle; Corkery, John Martin; Guirguis, Amira; Vento, Alessandro; Schifano, Fabrizio (2022-09-22)BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that benzodiazepines (BZDs) seem to enhance euphoric and reinforcing properties of opioids in opioid users so that a direct effect on opioid receptors has been postulated, together ... -
Efficacy of Different Hair and Skin Decontamination Strategies with Identification of Associated Hazards to First Responders
Larner, Joanne; Durrant, Adam; Hughes, Philip; Mahalingam, Devanya; Rivers, Samantha; Matar, Hazem; Thomas, Elliot; Barrett, Mark; Tavares Pinhal, Andreia; Amer, Nevine; Hall, Charlotte; Jackson, Toni; Catalani, Valeria; Chilcott, Robert (2019-07-19)Background: Established procedures for mass casualty decontamination involve the deployment of equipment for showering with water (such as the ladder pipe system [LPS] and technical decontamination [TD]). This necessarily ... -
Evidence-based successful example of a structure-based approach for the prediction of designer fentanyl-like molecules
Floresta, Giuseppe; Catalani, Valeria; Abbate, Vincenzo (2024-12)In 2019, we published three innovative quantitative structure-activity relationship models (QSAR) for predicting the affinity of mu-opioid receptor (µOR) ligands. The three different models were then combined to produce a ... -
GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
Arillotta, Davide; Floresta, Giuseppe; Guirguis, Amira; Corkery, John Martin; Catalani, Valeria; Martinotti, Giovanni; Sensi, Stefano L.; Schifano, Fabrizio (2023-10-24)The emergence of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide and others) now promises effective, non-invasive treatment of obesity for individuals with and without diabetes. Social media platforms’ ... -
Illicit COVID-19 products online: A mixed-method approach for identifying and preventing online health risks
Catalani, Valeria; Townshend, Honor D.; Prilutskaya, Mariya; Chilcott, Robert P.; Metastasio, Antonio; Banayoti, Hani; McSweeney, Tim; Corazza, Ornella (2023-06-16)Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a demand for vaccines, cures, and the need of related documentation for travel, work and other purposes. Our project aimed to identify the illicit availability of such products across ... -
In silico studies on recreational drugs: 3D quantitative structure activity relationship prediction of classified and de novo designer benzodiazepines
Catalani, Valeria; Floresta, Giuseppe; Botha, Michelle; Corkery, John Martin; Guirguis, Amira; Vento, Alessandro; Abbate, Vincenzo; Schifano, Fabrizio (2022-07-15)Currently, increasing availability and popularity of designer benzodiazepines (DBZDs) constitutes a primary threat to public health. To assess this threat, the biological activity/potency of DBZDs was investigated using ... -
The market of sport supplement in the digital era: A netnographic analysis of perceived risks, side-effects and other safety issues
Catalani, Valeria; Negri, Attilio; Townshend, Honor; Simonato, Pierluigi; Prilutskaya, Mariya; Tippett, Anna; Corazza, Ornella (2021-06-13)Background: The market of sport supplements is expanding worldwide. Such phenomenon is often supported by captivating marketing strategies and social media advertising providing unscientifically founded claims, thus raising ... -
New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and Serotonin Syndrome onset: a Systematic Review
Schifano, Fabrizio; Chiappini, Stephania; Corkery, John; Scherbaum, Norbert; Napoletano, Flavia; Arillotta, Davide; Catalani, Valeria; Vento, Alessandro; Pettorruso, Mauro; Martinotti, Giovanni; di Giannantonio, Massimo; Guirguis, Amira (2021-05-01)The use of several new psychoactive substances (NPS) has become very popular and is posing global health risks. Chemically and pharmacologically diverse molecules are constantly emerging and are presenting with a wide range ... -
Octodrine: New Questions and Challenges in Sport Supplements
Catalani, Valeria; Prilutskaya, Mariya; Al-Imam, Ahmed; Marrinan, Shanna; Elgharably, Yasmine; Zloh, Mire; Martinotti, Giovanni; Chilcott, Robert; Corazza, Ornella (2018-02-20)Background: Octodrine is the trade name for Dimethylhexylamine (DMHA), a central nervous stimulant that increases the uptake of dopamine and noradrenaline. Originally developed as a nasal decongestant in the 1950’s, it has ... -
Profiling the vendors of COVID‐19 related product on the Darknet: An observational study
Catalani, Valeria; Townshend, Honor D.; Prilutskaya, Mariya; Roman-Urrestarazu, Andres; van Kessel, Robin; Chilcott, Robert; Banayoti, Hani; McSweeney, Tim; Corazza, Ornella (2023-04-05)BACKGROUND: In a time of unprecedented global change, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in demand of COVID-19 vaccines and related certifications. Mainly due to supply shortages, counterfeit vaccines, fake documentation, ... -
The psychonauts’ benzodiazepines; quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis and docking prediction of their biological activity
Catalani, Valeria; Botha, Michelle; Corkery, John Martin; Guirguis, Amira; Vento, Alessandro; Scherbaum, Norbert; Schifano, Fabrizio (2021-07-26)Designer benzodiazepines (DBZDs) represent a serious health concern and are increasingly re-ported in polydrug consumption-related fatalities. When new DBZDs are identified, very limited information is available on their ... -
Psychonauts’ psychedelics: a systematic, multilingual, web-crawling exercise
Catalani, Valeria; Corkery, John Martin; Guirguis, Amira; Napoletano, Flavia; Arillotta, Davide; Zangani, Caroline; Vento, Alessandro; Schifano, Fabrizio (2021-08-01)Psychedelics alter the perception of reality through agonist or partial agonist interaction with the 2A serotoninergic receptor. They are classified as phenethylamines, tryptamines and lysergamides. These classes, according ... -
Recent Changes in Drug Abuse Scenario: The Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Phenomenon
Corazza, Ornella; Chilcott, Robert; Martinotti, Giovanni; Corkery, John; Guirguis, Amira; Zloh, Mire; Marrinan, Shanna; Catalani, Valeria (MDPI Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2019-01-01) -
Semaglutide as a Possible Calmodulin Binder: Ligand-Based Computational Analyses and Relevance to Its Associated Reward and Appetitive Behaviour Actions
Floresta, Giuseppe; Arillotta, Davide; Catalani, Valeria; Papanti Pelletier, G. Duccio; Corkery, John; Guirguis, Amira; Schifano, Fabrizio (2024-03-22)Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, has gained considerable attention as a therapeutic agent for type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity. Despite its clinical success, the precise mechanisms ...