Preliminary evidence suggests that there is minimal withdrawal after the cessation of chronically administered buprenorphine and that opioid withdrawal symptoms are delayed compared with those of other opioids. The present study compared the time course and magnitude of buprenorphine withdrawal with a prototypical μ-opioid agonist, morphine. Healthy, out-of-treatment opioid-dependent residentia...

AIM To examine how buprenorphine is currently being used across Italy, and to identify simultaneously best practice protocols to guide physicians in optimising the safety and efficacy of this treatment option. DESIGN Retrospective, observational, multi-centre study. PARTICIPANTS A total of 979 opioid-dependent patients were included from 32 centres involving the initiation of 1122 treatment...

BACKGROUND Buprenorphine is a partial agonist at the mu-opioid receptor that has been proposed as an alternative to traditional full agonist maintenance therapy for the treatment of opioid addiction. We report on a clinical trial in which the relative safety and efficacy of long-term fixed-dose buprenorphine maintenance was examined in comparison to low- and high-dose methadone maintenance. M...

The effects of the tricyclic antidepressants desipramine HCI and chlorimipramine HCI on buprenorphine HCI antinociceptive activity were studied in mice using the hot-plate and the tail-flick methods. In the hot-plate test, desipramine caused a transient antinociceptive effect at low doses, but it decreased buprenorphine analgesia. Chlorimipramine in this test caused a more sustained antinocicep...

Prenatal opioid agonist therapy with methadone or buprenorphine prevents maternal illicit opioid use and withdrawal and improves pregnancy outcomes compared to heroin use alone. Historically, methadone has been the first-line opioid agonist therapy for pregnant opioid dependent women; in recent years buprenorphine has become first-line treatment for some opioid dependent pregnant women. While t...

PURPOSE Sublingual buprenorphine and combination buprenorphine/naloxone (BNX) are effective options for the treatment of opioid dependence. A BNX sublingual tablet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the induction and maintenance treatment of opioid-dependence in adults was developed as a higher-bioavailability formulation, allowing for a 30% lesser dose of buprenorphine with bi...

Several decades ago, the analgesic properties of buprenorphine were discovered. Its approval for the use as an agent for the treatment of opioid abuse has led to increasing numbers of patients presenting for surgery on buprenorphine. This article describes the challenges, advantages, and disadvantages of the use of buprenorphine as an analgesic for postoperative pain in patients with and withou...

BACKGROUND In many but not in all neuropsychological studies buprenorphine-treated opioid-dependent patients have shown fewer cognitive deficits than patients treated with methadone. In order to examine if hypothesized cognitive advantage of buprenorphine in relation to methadone is seen in clinical patients we did a neuropsychological follow-up study in unselected sample of buprenorphine- vs. ...

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of preoperative PO and SC administration of buprenorphine and meloxicam for prevention of postoperative pain-associated behaviors in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy. DESIGN Randomized controlled study. ANIMALS 51 female cats (4 to 60 months old; weight range, 1.41 to 4.73 kg [3.1 to 10.4 lb]). PROCEDURE Cats received 1 of 5 treatments at the time ...

Buprenorphine is used for the treatment of chronic pain and also in treatment of heroin addiction as an alternative to methadone. As the availability of buprenorphine increases, so does the risk for abuse and the pressure on forensic and clinical laboratories to analyze for it. Buprenorphine and its dealkylated metabolite are excreted in urine, almost exclusively as glucuronides. The aim of the...