OBJECTIVE Both methadone and buprenorphine are effective therapy for heroin dependence. Efficacy is best documented for methadone maintenance therapy, but safety concerns limit its use. Buprenorphine offers lower overdose risk and improved access, but efficacy may be lower. The authors compared adaptive, buprenorphine-based stepped care to optimal methadone maintenance treatment. METHOD This ...

The recent approval of office-based treatment for opioid addiction and US Food and Drug Administration approval of buprenorphine will expand treatment options for opioid addiction. Buprenorphine is classified as a partial micro opioid agonist and a weak kappa antagonist. It has a high affinity for the micro receptor, with slow dissociation resulting in a long duration of action and an analgesic...

OBJECTIVE Buprenophrine is a synthetic opioid with micro-agonist properties currently pending Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval as a maintenance agent for treating heroin-addicted individuals. Unlike methadone, a widely used opioid maintenance agent, buprenorphine is a kappa-receptor antagonist. Research linking the effects of acupuncture to the release of dynorphin, the endogenous li...

Opiate dependence among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients has been associated with negative clinical outcomes, yet few affected patients receive appropriate and coordinated treatment for both conditions. The introduction of buprenorphine maintenance therapy into HIV care settings provides an opportunity for providers to integrate treatment for opiate dependence into their pra...

The use of heroin in Australia results in disproportionate harm. Although the evidence suggests that a relatively low proportion of the population aged 14 years and over have ever used (1.4%) heroin or have used it in the past 12 months (0.2%), heroin use remains a significant cause of death, injury, illness and social harm. Research demonstrates that being in treatment leads to less heroin use...

Buprenorphine has been shown to be an effective analgesic agent. In this trial buprenorphine was found as an effective analgesic agent in most of surgical emergencies; same was true for post operative cases. The duration of analgesia in this study was found to be nearly 8 hours as compared with morphine which was 5-1/2 hours. In another study after operations (Royll and Versichelas, 1976) the d...

Background: Buprenorphine, a partial agonist of the mu-opioid receptor, is an increasingly prescribed medication for maintenance treatment opioid use disorder. When this taken in context active use, precipitated withdrawal can occur, leading to acute onset symptoms. Fentanyl complicates buprenorphine, as it slowly releases from body stores and lead higher risk withdr...

Previous work in our laboratory showed that the recommended oral dose of buprenorphine (0.5 mg/kg) was not as effective as the standard therapeutic subcutaneous dose for postoperative analgesia in male Long-Evans (hooded) and Sprague-Dawley (albino) rats. The aim of the current study was to extend this analysis to female rats. We measured the pain threshold in adult female rats in diestrus or p...

BACKGROUND Buprenorphine is used as maintenance therapy for opioid-dependent patients. In comparison with other opioids it is thought to be safer because it is less likely to cause serious respiratory depression. However, concomitant use of psychotropics, especially benzodiazepines, and intravenous injection of dissolved buprenorphine tablets increase the risk of a serious overdose. METHODS A...

Although buprenorphine is used worldwide as a safe and effective maintenance medication for opioid dependence, some countries have reported a growing incidence of abuse of this medication. Buprenorphine is considered to have lower abuse potential because of its partial agonist profile, but no studies have directly compared the reinforcing effects of buprenorphine with those of full mu opioid ag...