Although only a partial mu-opiate agonist, buprenorphine can be abused and diverted from medical therapy to the illicit drug market. A combination of buprenorphine and naloxone for sublingual administration may discourage diversion and abuse by precipitating opiate withdrawal when taken parenterally. Because opiate-abusing populations are not homogeneous and have varying levels of opiate depend...

The authors used rats to study the impact of a history of opiate exposures on behavioral and autonomic responses to restraint stress. Brief restraint (30 min) provoked tachycardia and a pressor response, anxiety (as indexed by social interaction), grooming, and reduced exploration. The pressor response was reduced at 1 day, but not 7 days, after last opiate exposure; tachycardia was unaffected ...

Patients with symptoms of opiate withdrawal, after the administration of opiate antagonist by paramedics, are a common presentation in the emergency department of hospitals. Though most of opiate withdrawal symptoms are benign, rarely they can become life threatening. This case highlights how a benign opiate withdrawal symptom of hyperventilation led to severe respiratory alkalosis that degener...

addiction to the illicit and prescribed use of opiate is an alarming public health issue. studies on addictive disorders have demonstrated severe nutritional deficiencies in opiate abusers with behavioral, physiological and cognitive symptoms. opiate addiction is also link with a significant number of diseases including human immunodeficiency virus (hiv), hepatitis c virus (hcv) and other blood...

INTRODUCTION While several studies have identified an increased incidence of cardiovascular disorders in opiate dependence, neither opiates as a cardiovascular risk factor nor their effect on central arterial function has been considered. METHODS Pulse wave analysis (SphygmoCor, AtCorMedical Pty Limited, Sydney, NSW, Australia) was undertaken on a cohort of controls and opiate dependent patie...

BACKGROUND Because heroin supply changes cannot be measured directly, their impact on populations is poorly understood. British Columbia has experienced an injection drug use epidemic since the 1980s that resulted in 2,590 illicit drug deaths from 1990-1999. Since previous work indicates heroin seizures can correlate with supply and B.C. receives heroin only from Southeast Asia, this study exam...

BACKGROUND Attention from researchers and health care workers to the quality of life (QoL) of opiate users is growing, but most studies are quantitative, giving limited attention to the consumer's perspective. No information is available on how opiate-dependent individuals themselves perceive QoL and what they see as the important components that contribute to a good QoL. OBJECTIVES This qual...

Opiate analgesia, tolerance, and addiction are mediated by drug-induced activation of the mu opioid receptor. A fundamental question in addiction biology is why exogenous opiate drugs have a high liability for inducing tolerance and addiction while native ligands do not. Studies indicate that highly addictive opiate drugs such as morphine are deficient in their ability to induce the desensitiza...

in a recent issue of the asia pacific journal of medical toxicology (apjmt), the importance of empowering medical toxicology in the asia pacific region has been discussed. in the editorial by dr. afshari, it has been stated that national societies of medical toxicology are important infrastructure for the development of medical toxicology, and the asia pacific association of medical toxicology ...

Heroin addicts consume large quantities of refined sugars. This study investigated the effect of opiate use and antagonism on sweet taste in opiate-maintained drug users and detoxified former chronic opiate users, using a within-subject design. Seven opiate users received methadone and seven buprenorphine maintenance. Six detoxified subjects received naltrexone. Sucrose recognition thresholds a...