Background & Aims: Based on an experimental trial, we tried to test the effects of opium addiction through different administration routes on inflammatory and Coagulation Factors. Methods: This study was performed on 30 adult male Syrian golden hamsters allocated to one of three groups: control group which received no opiate; the first study group received oral opiate; and another study group r...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the dichotomy of type I/II and type A/B alcoholism typologies in opiate-dependent patients with a comorbid alcohol dependence problem (ODP-AP). METHODS The validity assessment process comprised the information regarding the history of alcohol use (internal validity), cognitive-behavioral variables regarding substance use (external validity), and indicators of treatment d...

Background: High prevalence of risky behaviors in alcohol dependents have been shown in several studies, but correlation between alcohol abuse and risky behaviors and relapse in patients with opiate dependence has been less investigated. This study aimed to determine the effect of alcohol abuse in rate of risk-taking behaviors in opiate dependents patients treated on maintenance program in Nort...

Chronic opiate use produces persistent changes in brain neurons that are expressed as adverse effects, including physical dependence and compulsive drug-seeking behavior. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to stress also occurs with chronic opiate administration and has been implicated as a contributing factor to continued substance abuse. This study provides the first...

Drug addiction is clinically defined in behavioral terms. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV of the American Psychiatric Association defines “substance dependence” as a maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three or more by the following criteria: tolerance, withdrawal, excessive use, inability to cut down, a great...

BACKGROUND The long-term effects of opiate use on human brain are not known. The goal of this preliminary study was to determine whether human subjects with histories of opiate dependence have persistent differences in brain function as compared with individuals without substance use disorders, and whether methadone maintenance reverses or ameliorates the potential abnormality. METHOD Positro...

Despite considerable evidence that chronic opiate use selectively affects the pathophysiologic consequences of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in the nervous system, few studies have examined whether neuro-acquired immune deficiency syndrome (neuroAIDS) might intrinsically alter the pharmacologic responses to chronic opiate exposure. This is an important matter because HIV...

BACKGROUND According to drug gateway theory, smoking cigarettes, especially, low onset age of smoking, is one of the risk factors for future use. OBJECTIVES The present study aimed to compare nicotine and opiate addicts to identify the differences in personality traits and onset age of smoking in the two groups that cause some individuals to appeal to other substances after starting to use ci...

Rats were subject to daily injections of morphine or saline and were then allowed to spontaneously withdraw from morphine for 4 days. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded continuously, via radiotelemetry, during the development of, and recovery from, opiate dependence. Injections of morphine produced pronounced and prolonged increases in MAP and HR which increase...