About this Research Topic

Background

Substance abuse, involving cocaine or sympathomimetics, opioids, hallucinogens, cannabinoids, and NPS substances is known to induce morphological changes within the myocardium and other human organs. Several of these transformations, though physiologically significant, often present as 'non-specific’ alterations, slipping through the net of commonly utilized histological or immunohistochemical procedures. This complexity and subtlety concerning changes extend an imperative call for novel methodologies that can reveal these alterations, enhancing our understanding and ability to respond to myocardial damage from drug ingestion.

The aim of the current Research Topic is therefore to introduce and explore new and specific histological or immunohistochemical procedures capable of identifying and highlighting the minute myocardial damages following drug intake. With appropriate histological markers it would be possible to find a better correlation between peripheric blood drug concentrations and histological features

Subsequently, these correlations can potentially guide the detection of minor alterations that could be expressions of small, but chronically repeated doses over time. Thus, our goal is to enhance diagnostic ability in drug intoxication-induced myocardial damage and create an advanced path for understanding this multifaceted issue.

Researchers are invited to submit Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Opinions, and Case Reports relevant to this collection. The main themes to address include, but are not limited to:

• Innovative diagnostic procedures for detecting myocardial damage arising from drug intoxication, integrating techniques from clinical and molecular pathology.

• Critical pathways employed by individual drugs, particularly sympathomimetic substances but not only these, to cause myocardial damage. We encourage investigations employing ultrastructural studies that highlight the specific intracellular organelles (like nucleolus or mitochondria) targeted by drugs of abuse.

• A correlation study between toxicological levels and corresponding histological myocardial changes. We aim to comprehend the progression of tissue damage in relation to varying concentrations of drug intake.

• Techniques and methodologies for revealing minor, often overlooked, histological changes that could signify exposure to small but chronically taken amounts of substances.

• Contributions towards creating an expansive, instructive atlas for forensic pathologists.

Keywords: Organ Damage, Myocardial, Postmortem, New Psychoactive Substances, Cocaine, Opioids, Cannabinoids, Hallucinogens

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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