The aim of the present study was to find out the influence of psychopathology on abstinence from opiate addiction. A group of 54 opiate addicts with psychopathology was compared with another group of 55 opiate addicts without psychopathology. Both the groups were detoxified and followed up for a period of 12 months.Common psychopathology in opiate addicts consisted of psychopathic personality d...

Methadone and buprenorphine are commonly used as oral substitutes in opiate maintenance programs to treat persons who are dependent on heroin. During these programs, patients are not allowed to continue using illicit drugs. Abstinence can easily be monitored by urine tests with immunochemical methods. It is well known that the intravenous abuse of heroin substitutes like methadone or buprenorph...

The contemporary history of drug abuse treatment service provision in the United Kingdom (UK) can be traced to the late 1960s when the first drug clinics were opened following the introduction of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Treatment services were established then to tackle the emerging problem of opiate dependence and associated morbidity and mortality. Since then, service provision has come a lo...

An analog of human beta-endorphine with omission of four residues at positions 11, 14, 20, and 22 has been synthesized. This analog and other synthetic analogs with deletion of a single amino acid at position 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, or 22 have been assayed for analgesic potency, ileal opiate activity,opiate receptor-binding activity, andimmunoreactivity. Results show that deletion of a sin...

This report describes effective prolonged opiate blockade by subcutaneous depotnaltrexone (d-NTX) preparation. The d-NTX is a 1000 mg pellet inserted at opiate detoxification. The assay of effective opiate blockade was direct opiate challenge. Fifteen challenges were performed. Opiate challenges occurred from 21 to 70 days after d-NTX implantation (mean 40.9 days). All patients were refractory ...

The negative affective symptoms of opiate withdrawal powerfully motivate drug-seeking behavior and may trigger relapse to heroin abuse. To date, no medications exist that effectively relieve the negative affective symptoms of opiate withdrawal. The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system has been hypothesized to mediate the motivational effects of drug dependence. The CRF signal is transmit...

Much research has focused on the opiate properties of dynorphin, especially toward differentiating its binding to various receptor sub-populations. The effects of dynorphin in vitro have clearly documented its opiate binding potential. However, central administration of dynorphin produces behavioral and electrophysiological effects unlike those of classical ~t-, Kor 8-receptor agonists. In fact...

BACKGROUND Retention in treatment is a key indicator of methadone treatment success. The study aims to identify factors that are associated with retention. OBJECTIVES To determine retention in treatment at 12 months for Irish opiate users in methadone substitution treatment and to indicate factors that increase the likelihood of retention. METHODS National cohort study of randomly selected ...

Opiate alkaloid and opioid peptide actions on spontaneous neuronal activity and postsynaptic amino acid responsiveness were assessed using intracellular recording techniques applied to murine spinal cord neurons in primary dissociated cell culture. Application of opiates was by superfusion and amino acids by iontophoresis. Glycine and GABA but not glutamate responses were antagonized by the opi...