Withdrawal may be a natural model to study craving and compulsive drug seeking, since craving can be viewed as a conditioned dysphoric state. It has been suggested that functional connectivity between brain areas may be of major value in explaining excessive craving and compulsive drug seeking by providing essential link between psychological and biological processes. Considering that withdrawa...

BACKGROUND Chronic ethanol exposure reduces dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens, which may contribute to the negative affective symptoms associated with ethanol withdrawal. Kappa opioid receptors have been implicated in withdrawal-induced excessive drinking and anxiety-like behaviors and are known to inhibit dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. The effects of chronic ethanol ex...

AIM OF THE STUDY Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive indole alkaloid that is used to treat substance-related disorders in a global medical subculture, and is of interest as an ethnopharmacological prototype for experimental investigation and possible rational pharmaceutical development. The subculture is also significant for risks due to the lack of clinical and pharmaceutical standa...

AIMS The current study assessed the in vivo antagonist properties of nalmefene using procedures previously used to characterize the opioid antagonists naloxone, naltrexone, 6beta-naltrexol and nalbuphine. MAIN METHODS ICR mice were used to generate antagonist dose-response curves with intraperitoneal (i.p.) nalmefene against fixed A(90) doses of morphine in models of morphine-stimulated hyper...

Physician adoption of buprenorphine treatment of opioid dependence may be limited in part by concerns regarding the induction process. Although national guidelines recommend observed induction, some physicians utilize unobserved induction outside the office. The aim of this pilot randomized clinical trial was to assess preliminary safety and effectiveness of unobserved versus observed office bu...

Opioid abuse is a growing global problem. Current therapies for opioid target withdrawal symptoms and have several adverse side effects. There are no treatments to address opioid-induced neural adaptations associated with addiction. Preclinical research demonstrates interactions between the endogenous cannabinoid systems, suggesting that cannabinoids may be used treat addiction dependence. The ...

The goal of the present study was to elucidate the relationship between cannabinoid and opioid systems in drug dependence. The CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonist SR 141716A precipitated both paw tremors and head shakes in four different mouse strains that were treated repeatedly with -tetrahydrocannabinol ( -THC). SR 141716A-precipitated -THC withdrawal was ameliorated in -opioid receptor knoc...

Nicotine (NIC) is an exogenous ligand of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), and it influences various functions in the central nervous system. Systemic administration of NIC elicits the release of endogenous opioids (endorphins, enkephalins, and dynorphins) in the supraspinal cord. Additionally, systemic NIC administration induces the release of methionine-enkephalin in the spinal do...

AIMS Many websites provide a means for individuals to share their experiences and knowledge about different drugs. Such User-Generated Content (UGC) can be a rich data source to study emerging drug use practices and trends. This study examined UGC on extra-medical use of loperamide among illicit opioid users. METHODS A website that allows for the free discussion of illicit drugs and is access...

Control of trafficking of g protein-linked receptors is thought to be an important regulatory mechanism for receptor signaling. Finn and Whistler test the hypothesis that agonist-induced trafficking of opioid receptors regulates the development of tolerance and dependence. The results show that measures of tolerance and withdrawal to morphine are decreased under conditions where receptors are t...