Publications

Lukas SE, Moreton JE. A technique for chronic intragastric drug administration in the rat. Life Sci 1979; 25:593-600.

Lukas SE, Moreton JE, Khazan N. Effects of levo-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM) on morphine self-administration in the rat. Psychopharmacology 1981; 73:12-16.

Griffiths RR, Lukas SE, Bradford LD, Brady JV, Snell JD. Self-injection of barbiturates and benzodiazepines in baboons. Psychopharmacology 1981; 75:101-109.

Mello NK, Mendelson JH, Bree MP, Lukas SE. Buprenorphine suppresses cocaine self-administration by rhesus monkeys. Science 1989; 245:859-862.

Using rapid blood sampling techniques to quantify the pharmacokinetics of drugs of abuse both alone and in combination with other drugs and to correlate these parameters with physiological and behavioral measures. These studies served as the fundamental framework for developing research results that have helped to understand the pharmacological impact of using more than one drug at a time and to help elucidate the reasons why people abuse multiple drugs simultaneously. Alcohol is often used in combination with other drugs and may well be one of the most frequent drug abuse combinations. Many of these relationships were found to be based on pharmacokinetic interactions and well as alterations in bioavailability.

Lukas SE, Benedikt R, Mendelson JH, Kouri E, Sholar M, Amass L. Marihuana attenuates the rise in plasma ethanol levels in human subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology 1992; 7:77-81.

Lukas SE, Sholar M, Kouri E, Fukuzako H, Mendelson JH. Marihuana smoking increases plasma cocaine levels and subjective reports of euphoria in male volunteers. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1994; 48:715-721.

Kouri EM, McCarthy EM, Faust AH, Lukas SE. Pretreatment with transdermal nicotine enhances some of ethanol’s acute effects in men. Drug Alc Depend 2004; 75(1): 55-65.

Kouri, EM, Stull, M, Lukas, SE. Nicotine alters some of cocaine’s subjective effects in the absence of physiological or pharmacokinetic changes. Pharmac Biochem Behav 2001;69:209-217.

Using both conventional and an alternative/complementary approach that involves an herbal preparation (kudzu) for reducing alcohol consumption. In the course of conducting these studies we have implemented novel ways of collecting data including 24/7 wrist actigraphy, spiked riboflavin for medication adherence, ambulatory physiological monitoring, biological markers and extensive safety testing.

Lukas SE. Human studies of kudzu as a treatment for alcohol abuse. In: Pueraria: The Genus Pueraria. WM Keung, editor. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2002, 159-79.

Lukas SE, Penetar D, Berko J, Vicens L, Palmer C, Mallya G, Macklin EA, Lee DY-W. An extract of the Chinese herbal root, kudzu, reduces alcohol drinking by heavy drinkers in a naturalistic setting. Alc Clin Exp Res 2005; 29(5): 756-762.

Penetar DM, Teter CJ, Ma Z, Tracy M, Lee DYW, Lukas SE. Pharmacokinetic profile of the isoflavone puerarin after acute and repeated administration of a novel kudzu extract to human volunteers. J Alt Compl Med 2006; 12(6):543-548.

Penetar DM, MacLean RR, McNeil JF, Lukas SE. Kudzu extract does not increase the intoxicating effects of acute alcohol in human volunteers. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 2010; 35:726-734 (Jan 18. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01390.x.

Bracken BK, Penetar DM, RR Maclean, Lukas, SE. Kudzu root extract does not perturb sleep/wake cycle of moderate drinkers. J Altern Complement Med 2011; 17(10):961-966.

Lukas SE, Penetar D, Su Z, Geaghan T, Maywalt M, Tracy M, Rodolico J, Palmer C, Lee DY-W. A standardized kudzu extract (NPI-031) reduces alcohol consumption in non treatment-seeking male heavy drinkers. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2013; 226(1):65-73.

Penetar DM, TotoLH, David Y.-W. LeeDY-W, Lukas S. A Single Dose of Kudzu Extract Reduces Alcohol Consumption in a Binge Drinking Paradigm. Drug Alcohol Depend 2015; 153:194-200.

Clinical studies aimed at understanding the neurobiological basis of reward (marihuana, alcohol, cocaine) using behavioral and imaging modalities that also explored sex-related differences. These fundamental studies focused on using EEG and behavior and also led to my early work with cue-induced craving. As our imaging center is expanding to include high density EEG/ERP, these studies serve as a backbone of the future experiments, particularly as we expand into multimodal imaging.

Lukas SE, Mendelson JH, Woods BT, Mello NK, Teoh SK. Topographic distribution of EEG alpha activity during ethanol-induced intoxication in women. J Stud Alcohol 1989; 50:176-185.

Lukas SE, Mendelson JH, Benedikt RA, Jones B. EEG alpha activity increases during transient episodes of ethanol-induced euphoria. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1986; 25:889-895.

Lex BW, Lukas SE, Greenwald NE, Mendelson, JH. Alcohol-induced changes in body sway in women at risk for alcoholism: A pilot study. J Stud Alcohol 1988; 49:346-356.

Lukas SE, Sholar M, Lundahl LH, Lamas X, Kouri E, Wines JD, Kragie L, Mendelson JH. Sex differences in plasma cocaine levels and subjective effects after acute cocaine administration in human volunteers. Psychopharmacology 1996; 124:346-354.

We have designed studies to blend measures of subjective mood and behavior with metrics of brain function using imaging technologies.

Maas LC, Lukas SE, Kaufman MJ, Weiss RD, Daniels SL, Rogers VW, Kukes TJ, Renshaw PF. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of cue-induced cocaine craving in the human brain. Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155:124-126.

Gruber S, Dahlgren M, Sagar K, Gönenç, A, Lukas, S. Worth the Wait: Effects of age of onset of marijuana use on white matter and impulsivity. Psychopharmacology 2014; 231:1455-65.

Janes AC, Farmer S, Peechatka A, Frederick BB, Lukas SE. Insula-Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Coupling is Associated with Enhanced Brain Reactivity to Smoking Cues. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015 Jan 8.

Lukas SE, Lowen SB, Lindsey KP, Conn N, Tartarini W, Rodolico J, Mallya G, Palmer C, Penetar DM. Extended-Release Injectable Naltrexone (XR-NTX) Attenuates Brain Responses to Alcohol Cues in Alcohol-Dependent Volunteers: A BOLD fMRI Study. Neuroimage. 2013; 78:176-85.

We have administered marihuana to volunteers to study its direct effects on brain and behavior, but have also studied the impact the past use has on brain development and cognitive function. We are now exploring how the effects of casual use of THC products differs from medical marihuana as well as CBD based products.

Hill KP, Toto LH, Lukas SE, Weiss RD, Trksak GH, Rodolico JM, Greenfield SF. Cognitive behavioral therapy and the nicotine transdermal patch for dual nicotine and cannabis dependence: a pilot study. Am J Addict. 2013 May-Jun;22(3):233-238. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2012.12007.x.

Gruber S, Dahlgren M, Sagar K, Gönenç, A, Lukas, S. Worth the Wait: Effects of age of onset of marijuana use on white matter and impulsivity. Psychopharmacology 2014; 231(8): 1455–1465. PMID: 24190588

Gruber SA, Sagar KA, Dahlgren MK, Gonenc A, Conn NA, Winer JP, Penetar DM, Lukas SE. Citicoline Treatment Improves Measures of Impulsivity and Task Performance in Chronic Marijuana Smokers: A Pilot BOLD fMRI Study. Int J Neurol Neurother. 2015 Sep 30;2(3):1-8. PMID: 26658924

Gruber SA, Sagar KA, Dahlgren MK, Racine MT, Smith RT, Lukas SE. Splendor in the Grass? A Pilot Study Assessing the Impact of Medical Marijuana on Executive Function. Front Pharmacol. 2016; 7: 355. Published online 2016 Oct 13. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2016.00355.

Hill KP, Palastro MD, Gruber SA, Fitzmaurice GM, Greenfield SF, Lukas SE, Weiss RD. Nabilone pharmacotherapy for cannabis dependence: A randomized, controlled pilot study. Am J Addict 2017; 26:795-801.

Gruber SA, Sagar KA, Dahlgren MK, Gonenc A, Smith RT, Lambros AM, Cabrera KB, Lukas SE. The grass might be greener: Medical marijuana patients exhibit altered brain activity and improved executive function after 3 months of treatment. Front Pharmacol 18:989, 2018.