BACKGROUND Personality traits may form a part of the aetiology of opioid dependence. For instance, opioid dependence may result from self-medication in emotionally unstable individuals, or from experimenting with drugs in sensation seekers. The five factor model (FFM) has obtained a central position in contemporary personality trait theory. The five factors are: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openn...

INTRODUCTION Many patients in maintenance treatment programs for opioid dependence are parents to underage children. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore how parents who are regular patients in maintenance treatment perceive their parenthood. METHODS The study used a qualitative approach. The informants were recruited by staff at a substance abuse clinic in Sweden. Criteria for in...

Opioid dependence is a condition with serious clinical ramifications. Treatment has focused on detoxification, agonist therapy with methadone or buprenorphine, or remission maintenance with the opioid antagonist, naltrexone. Treatment with oral naltrexone has been limited by poor treatment adherence and relapse. Studies with long-acting formulations have shown increased treatment adherence. Ext...

OBJECTIVE The completion of the human genome sequence has spurred investigation of the genetic contribution to substance dependence. In this article some of the recent scientific evidence for genetic determinants of opioid and cocaine dependence is reviewed. METHOD An electronic search of the medical literature was conducted to locate published studies relevant to the genetics of opioid and c...

Opioid dependence is an epidemic in the United States, and the percentage of pregnant women who are opioid dependent has increased dramatically in the last decade. Pain management, already a concern for intrapartum and postpartum care, is complicated in the context of opioid dependence. This clinical review surveys the literature on pain management in opioid-dependent pregnant women to summariz...

Through improved adherence, once-monthly injectable extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) may provide an advantage over other oral agents approved for alcohol and opioid dependence treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate cost and utilization outcomes between XR-NTX and other pharmacotherapies for treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence. Published studies were identified through...

The chronic use of opiates (i.e., narcotics such as the natural derivatives of opium including morphine or codeine) or opioids (i.e., semisynthetic derivatives of opium and other molecules that activate opioid receptors) induces dependence, which is associated with various specific behavioral and somatic signs after their withdrawal or after the administration of an opioid antagonist. Among the...

UNLABELLED We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of an injectable, once monthly extended-release formulation of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (XR-NTX) for treatment of patients with opioid dependence after detoxification. Two hundreds and fifty patients with opioid dependence were enrolled into the double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, 24-week trial. Patients aged 18 years or ov...

Previous studies have suggested that Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) can modulate opioid tolerance and dependence via its action on learning and memory. In this study, we examined whether CaMKII could directly regulate opioid tolerance and dependence. CaMKII activity was increased after the treatment with morphine (100 mg/kg s.c. or 75 mg s.c. of morphine/pellet/mouse); t...