BACKGROUND Interindividual variability in methadone disposition remains unexplained, and methadone accidental overdose in pain therapy is a significant public health problem. Cytochrome P4502B6 (CYP2B6) is the principle determinant of clinical methadone elimination. The CYP2B6 gene is highly polymorphic, with several variant alleles. CYP2B6.6, the protein encoded by the CYP2B6*6 polymorphism, d...

the purpose of this research was to determine the efficacy of group schema therapy approach for b category personality disorders score adjustment in substance dependent individuals. the present study was performed on individuals under maintenance treatment with methadone in shiraz public centers. sample group included 30 persons who were under treatment. instruments used included: clinical inte...

Radioimmunoassay was compared to thin-layer and gas--liquid chromatographic methods for detection of methadone in the urine of patients undergoing methadone maintenance therapy as treatment of heroin abuse. With urine samples known to contain methadone, 84% were positive by thin-layer chromatography as compared to 99% positives by the other two methods. This difference is attributed to the diff...

INTRODUCTION Opioid dependence is recorded as the most common drug of abuse in Malaysia. Currently, the preferred substitution therapy for most Government treatment centres is methadone used as substitution therapy for opioid dependence. There are, however patients who may benefit from being on the combined buprenorphine-naloxone formulation as substitution therapy instead. We discuss six cases...

methadone is widely being used for opioid substitution therapy. however, the administration of methadone to opioid dependent individual is frequently accompanied by withdrawal syndrome and chemical dependency develops. other than that, it is also difficult to retain patients in the treatment programme making their retention rates are decreasing over time. this article is written to higlights th...

Methadone overdoses are increasing in parallel with the increased frequency of opiate substitution therapy in adults. Although unintentional methadone intoxication in children is rare, it is becoming more frequently recognized. We report 3 cases of unintentional methadone overdose in toddlers who initially displayed central nervous system depression associated with severe nonketotic hyperglycem...

There has been recent concern about the association between high dose methadone and prolongation of QTc in the electrocardiogram. QTc is the time from the beginning of the QRS complex to the end of the T have as measured on an electrocardiogram and corrected for heart rate. To date, no association has been made between methadone and buprenorphine in commonly used doses and prolonged QTc. Electr...

ISSUES Methadone, a pharmacological agent used to treat heroin dependence is relatively safe, but may cause cardiac arrhythmias in the concurrent presence of other risk factors. APPROACH AND KEY FINDINGS: This case report highlights the risk of torsade de pointes, a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia, in a heroin-dependent patient receiving methadone substitution therapy who was prescribed itr...