Ricerc@Sapienza

Heroin is one of the most frequently seized drugs in Southeastern Europe. Due to the position in the Balkan route, the Republic of Serbia keeps important role in suppression of the trafficking of heroin for domestic and foreign illegal market. This research is aimed to provide a good scientific approach in the field of seized heroin analysis. Two different forms of heroin are present in the illegal market, mostly in mixtures with typical "cutting" agents: caffeine, paracetamol, and sugars.

The gliotransmitter glutamate in different brain regions modulates neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission through a variety of mechanisms. Among the hallmarks of astrocytic glutamate release are the slow depolarizing inward currents (SICs) in neurons mediated by N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor activation. Different stimuli that evoke Ca 2+ elevations in astrocytes induce neuronal SICs suggesting a Ca 2+ -dependent exocytotic glutamate release mechanism of SIC generation.