Opioid treatment of experimental pain activates nuclear factor-κB.

Objective: To determine the independent and combined effects of pain and opioids on the activation of an early marker of inflammation, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB).

Design: NF-κB activation was compared within-subjects following four randomly ordered experimental sessions of opioid-only (intravenous fentanyl 1 μg/kg), painonly (cold-pressor), opioid + pain, and a resting condition.

Setting: University General Clinical Research Center.

Comparisons of analgesic potency and side effects of buprenorphine and buprenorphine with ultra-low-dose naloxone.

Objectives: Opioids are the most effective pain medication available, yet concerns about their safety may limit their administration to those in need. In efforts to identify analgesics with lower potential for abuse and dependence, recent evidence suggests that combinations of opioids with ultra-low doses of the opioid antagonist naloxone may enhance the analgesic effect with increased safety. This study investigated the use of buprenorphine (0.

Comparison of buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence in 3 settings.

Unlabelled: Although use of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid dependence is expected to continue to increase, little is known about the optimal setting for providing the medical and psychosocial care required with buprenorphine pharmacotherapy.

Objective: This study compared buprenorphine therapy delivered in 3 distinct treatment settings: an opioid treatment program (OTP) offering individual counseling, a group counseling program utilizing the manualized Matrix Model (MMM) of cognitive-behavioral treatment, and a private clinic setting mirroring standard medical management for buprenorphine treatment provided specifically at a psychiatrist's private practice (primary care setting).

Method: Participants were inducted on buprenorphine and provided with treatment over a 52-week study duration.

Selective review and commentary on emerging pharmacotherapies for opioid addiction.

Pharmacotherapies for opioid addiction under active development in the US include lofexidine (primarily for managing withdrawal symptoms) and Probuphine®, a distinctive mode of delivering buprenorphine for six months, thus relieving patients, clinicians, and regulatory personnel from most concerns about diversion, misuse, and unintended exposure in children. In addition, two recently approved formulations of previously proven medications are in early phases of implementation. The sublingual film form of buprenorphine + naloxone (Suboxone®) provides a less divertible, more quickly administered, more child-proof version than the buprenorphine + naloxone sublingual tablet.

Buprenorphine 101: treating opioid dependence with buprenorphine in an office-based setting.

This clinical observation provides a first look at differences between two patient subgroups, prescription opiate (PO) abusers and heroin abusers, presenting for office-based buprenorphine treatment. Medical and drug use histories, medication dose, treatment outcome, and demographic information were collected from the first 101 opiate-dependent adults entering treatment. The results indicate that PO abusers (n = 42) and heroin abusers (n = 59) differed in several demographic characteristics, drug use history, and treatment outcome.