Metabonomic analysis of the blood serum of crack users in resocialization process

• Grant number: 17/20131-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2017
• End date: November 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Ljubica Tasic
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique de Barros Pinto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Crack-cocaine is a potent form of cocaine abuse and is considered, globally, as one of the most potentially dangerous illicit drugs. In Brazil, it is one of the most commonly used drugs because it is cheap and its effects are very quick. Thus, crack-cocaine dependence is more severe and pattern of consumption more compulsive when compared to the cocaine use. Its long-term effects, such as changes in attention, fluency, and executive functions, are already known and listed among the top priorities of mental health research. The identification of biomarkers in crack-cocaine users may aid-in the search for new drugs and treatments for this drug addicts. This research project aims metabonomics study by NMR on blood serum samples from healthy and crack-cocaine dependent women. Among crack-cocaine dependents we shall explore the same group of women at the act of hospitalizing and after three weeks recovery therapy before their reintegration to the society. 1H NMR (1D and 2D) spectral data will be analyzed by statistical analysis techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), to identify anomalous samples and group the samples according to their natural trends. The techniques of partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) will be used to differentiate samples from both classes, using the total cross-validation to evaluate the constructed models. Subsequently, biomarkers of crack-cocaine abuse will be identified, which will be compared with the biomarkers of other disorders of the central nervous system. (AU)