Opiate withdrawal is followed by a protracted abstinence syndrome consisting of craving and physiological changes. However, few studies have been dedicated to both the characterization and understanding of these long-term alterations in post-dependent subjects. The aim of the present study was to develop an opiate dependence model, which induces long-lasting behavioral changes in abstinent rats...

OBJECTIVE Neuro-electrophysiological tools have been widely used in heroin addiction studies. Previous studies indicated that chronic heroin abuse would result in abnormal functional organization of the brain, while few heroin addiction studies have applied the effective connectivity tool to analyze the brain functional system (BFS) alterations induced by heroin abuse. The present study aims to...

Rats with a previous history of heroin self-administration were studied to assess interactions occurring between cannabinoids and opioids in an animal model of reinstatement of heroin-seeking behaviour. Rats were trained to self-administer heroin and after a long-term extinction were primed with one of the following non-contingent non-reinforced drug administrations: saline (or vehicle), heroin...

BACKGROUND Impulsivity is a hallmark characteristic of drug addiction and a prominent feature of externalizing disorders such as psychopathy that are commonly comorbid with drug addiction. In a previous study (Vassileva et al., 2007) we have shown that psychopathic heroin addicts evidence more impulsive decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task relative to non-psychopathic heroin addicts. The g...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to compare the changes in primary (heroin use-related) and secondary (depressive symptoms and quality of life, QOL) outcome indicators of 3-month methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) between heroin users with and without HIV infection. METHODS A total of 242 intravenous heroin-dependent individuals (30 with and 212 without HIV infection) receiving MMT wer...

Conflicting results, both decreased and increased, have been reported concerning the function of T-lymphocytes in heroin addicts. We investigated the alterations of T-lymphocyte proliferative responses and immunophenotypic markers on lymphoid cells in heroin addicts and during different periods of heroin withdrawal in addicted subjects. This study has demonstrated a decrease in the response of ...

We investigated the relative importance of heroin and its metabolites in eliciting a behavioral response in mice by studying the relationship between concentrations of heroin, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6MAM), and morphine in brain tissue and the effects on locomotor activity. Low doses (subcutaneous) of heroin (< or =5 micromol/kg) or 6MAM (< or =15 micromol/kg) made the mice run significantly more...

BACKGROUND The interaction of the association of dopamine genes, impulsivity and childhood trauma with substance abuse remains unclear. OBJECTIVES To clarify the impacts and the interactions of the Catechol -O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, impulsivity and childhood trauma on the age of onset of heroin use among heroin dependent patients in China. METHODS 202 male and 248 female inpatients ...

BACKGROUND Long-term use of opioids has acute effects on homeostasis of the body. Discovering the impacts of opioids on hematological parameters of narcotics withdrawal and dependents blood may be helpful in recognizing the homeostasis condition of their body for the useful treatment. METHODS In this study a cross-sectional method was applied. The abusers of opium and heroin for more than two...

Heroin addiction is devastating to both the person addicted and to society. Attempts to treat heroin addiction have proved difficult due to the extreme addictive qualities of the drug. Medication-assisted recovery or pharmacotherapy, such as methadone and buprenorphine, are controversial in that it is providing a medication that has similar qualities of heroin itself. Behavioral treatments alon...