The Impact of High-Potency Synthetic Opioids on Pharmacotherapies for Opioid Use Disorder: A Scoping Review.

Background: The clinical implications of high potency synthetic opioids (HPSO) on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs) are not well understood. Although pharmacological interactions are plausible, the clinical significance of such interaction has not been systematically elucidated. This scoping review investigates the relationship between HPSO exposure and various MOUD treatment outcomes.

Placental cytochrome P450 methylomes in infants exposed to prenatal opioids: exploring the effects of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome on health horizons.

Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), arises due to increased opioid use during pregnancy. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes play a pivotal role in metabolizing a wide range of substances in the human body, including opioids, other drugs, toxins, and endogenous compounds. The association between CYP gene methylation and opioid effects is unexplored and it could offer promising insights.

Facilitation and Preferred Models for Delivering Substance Use Disorder Treatment in HIV Clinics: Results From a Multisite Randomized Trial.

Background: Integrated addiction treatment in HIV clinics is associated with improved outcomes, yet it is offered inconsistently and with variable models of care. We sought to evaluate the impact of Implementation Facilitation ("Facilitation") on clinician and staff preference for provision of addiction treatment in HIV clinics with on-site resources (all trained or designated on-site specialist) versus outside resources (outside specialist or refer out).

Methods: From July 2017 to July 2020, surveys assessed clinician and staff preferences for addiction treatment models during control (ie, baseline), intervention, evaluation, and maintenance phases in 4 HIV clinics in the Northeast United States.

Placental microRNA methylome signatures may serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for prenatally opioid-exposed infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

The neonate exposed to opioids in utero faces a constellation of withdrawal symptoms postpartum commonly called neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). The incidence of NOWS has increased in recent years due to the opioid epidemic. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.

Effect of Implementation Facilitation to Promote Adoption of Medications for Addiction Treatment in US HIV Clinics: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Medications for addiction treatment (MAT) are inconsistently offered in HIV clinics.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of implementation facilitation (hereafter referred to as "facilitation"), a multicomponent implementation strategy, on increasing provision of MAT for opioid use disorder (MOUD), alcohol use disorder (MAUD), and tobacco use disorder (MTUD).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Conducted from July 26, 2016, through July 25, 2020, the Working with HIV Clinics to adopt Addiction Treatment using Implementation Facilitation (WHAT-IF?) study used an unblinded, stepped wedge design to sequentially assign each of 4 HIV clinics in the northeastern US to cross over from control (ie, baseline practices) to facilitation (ie, intervention) and then evaluation and maintenance periods every 6 months.

Integrating Ambulatory Addiction Consultation Service Into a Community Mental Health Center.

Despite the escalation in substance related overdose mortality-culminating in more than 100,000 deaths in each of the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic-healthcare systems have not kept up with the demands for care among people who use drugs. There remains a significant gap in access to evidence-based treatment. The addiction consult services has served to address this gap, as a critical intervention that engages mostly hospitalized patients and initiate addiction treatment in acute settings, but little is known about addiction consult services in ambulatory settings.

Patients' perspectives of medications for addiction treatment in HIV clinics: A qualitative study.

Background: While substance use disorders (SUD) disproportionately impact people with HIV (PWH), HIV clinics inconsistently provide evidence-based medications for addiction treatment (MAT). Patient receptivity to MAT is critical to enhance addiction treatment in these settings. However, we know little from patients about how to best integrate MAT into HIV clinics.

The effect of varenicline on smoking and drinking outcomes among Black and White adults with alcohol use disorder and co-occurring cigarette smoking: A secondary analysis of two clinical trials.

Introduction: Varenicline is an FDA-approved medication for smoking cessation and has demonstrated promise in reducing alcohol use. This study sought to compare the efficacy of varenicline in reducing smoking and drinking among Black and White people seeking alcohol treatment.

Methods: Linear mixed modeling was conducted using data from two multi-site placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials examining the effects of varenicline for treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD; O'Malley et al.

Placental DNA methylation profiles in opioid-exposed pregnancies and associations with the neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

Opioid abuse during pregnancy can result in Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). We investigated genome-wide methylation analyses of 96 placental tissue samples, including 32 prenatally opioid-exposed infants with NOWS who needed therapy (+Opioids/+NOWS), 32 prenatally opioid-exposed infants with NOWS who did not require treatment (+Opioids/-NOWS), and 32 prenatally unexposed controls (-Opioids/-NOWS, control). Statistics, bioinformatics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), including Deep Learning (DL), and Ingenuity Pathway Analyses (IPA) were performed.

Readiness to Provide Medications for Addiction Treatment in HIV Clinics: A Multisite Mixed-Methods Formative Evaluation.

Background: We sought to characterize readiness, barriers to, and facilitators of providing medications for addiction treatment (MAT) in HIV clinics.

Setting: Four HIV clinics in the northeastern United States.

Methods: Mixed-methods formative evaluation conducted June 2017-February 2019.

An integrated behavioural intervention combined with varenicline for heavy-drinking smokers: a randomized pilot study.

Objectives: Combined smoking and heavy drinking is a significant health burden. Varenicline, an efficacious tobacco pharmacotherapy that also shows promise for drinking, has yielded mixed results among heavy-drinking smokers. This pilot study investigated integrated tobacco and alcohol counselling plus varenicline for this vulnerable group.

Working with HIV clinics to adopt addiction treatment using implementation facilitation (WHAT-IF?): Rationale and design for a hybrid type 3 effectiveness-implementation study.

Background: Tobacco, alcohol and opioid misuse are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality among people with HIV (PWH). Despite existence of evidence-based counseling and medications for addiction, these treatments are infrequently offered in HIV clinics. The Working with HIV clinics to adopt Addiction Treatment using Implementation Facilitation (WHAT-IF?) study was conducted to address this implementation challenge.

Multiple Psychiatric Morbidity and Continued Use of Naltrexone for Alcohol Use Disorder.

Background And Objectives: Despite substantial evidence of the efficacy of naltrexone in treating alcohol use disorder (AUD), naltrexone is used infrequently and often for short durations. Understanding factors related to the initiation and continued use of naltrexone could identify targets for improving its use in clinical practice.

Methods: We used the Fiscal year 2012 national data from the Veterans Health Administration to identify the proportion of veterans diagnosed with AUD who initiated and then continued to receive naltrexone for AUD over a 6-month period (N = 67,788).

Perceived barriers to access care, anticipated discrimination and structural vulnerability among African Americans with substance use disorders.

Background: The application of the structural vulnerability construct in medicine addresses social structures as the source of health inequities. Evidence demonstrates structural vulnerability as the meta-problem that underlie health disparities faced by underrepresented minorities who are less likely to access care and face stigma for substance use disorders (SUDs).

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess perceived vulnerability at the structural and interpersonal levels depicted by barriers to care, treatment-related stigma and anticipated discrimination among African Americans with SUDs.

Effects of Alcohol Cue Reactivity on Subsequent Treatment Outcomes Among Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Multisite Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Varenicline.

Background: The alcohol cue reactivity paradigm is increasingly used to screen medications for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and other substance use disorders. Yet, its prospective association with craving and naturalistic drinking outcomes in clinical trials remains unknown. This study embedded repeated human laboratory assessments of alcohol cue reactivity within the context of a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of varenicline tartrate (Chantix ), a partial agonist of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, on alcohol craving among treatment-seeking heavy drinkers with AUD.

Stitching a solution to the addiction epidemic: A longitudinal addiction curricular thread across four years of medical training.

Despite the enormous burden and public health impact, addiction continues to be one of the most under-treated chronic diseases primarily because of the lack of adequately trained work force of medical providers. To address this issue, medical schools should greatly expand education on addiction. The six-step Kern model of curriculum development was used as a framework to create an addiction curriculum which includes didactic activities, workshop exercises, practice-based learning activities, clinical simulations, and clinical experiences.

Medications for Maintenance Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in Adolescents: A Narrative Review and Assessment of Clinical Benefits and Potential Risks.

Objective: Methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are evidence-based treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD). A large body of evidence supports their effectiveness in adults with OUD. However, few studies have tested their efficacy in adolescents.

Longitudinal Findings from a Randomized Clinical Trial of Varenicline for Alcohol Use Disorder with Comorbid Cigarette Smoking.

Background: This study is the first to examine longitudinal posttreatment outcomes of a placebo-controlled trial of varenicline for alcohol use disorder (AUD) with comorbid cigarette smoking.

Methods: Participants were 131 adults (n = 39 female) seeking alcohol treatment in a randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled, 16-week multisite trial of varenicline combined with medical management (MM). Timeline follow-back assessments of alcohol and smoking behavior were conducted at the end of treatment (4 months), with follow-ups at 6, 9, and 12 months.

Randomized Clinical Trial of Computerized and Clinician-Delivered CBT in Comparison With Standard Outpatient Treatment for Substance Use Disorders: Primary Within-Treatment and Follow-Up Outcomes.

Objective: Previous trials have demonstrated the efficacy and durability of computer-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT) as an add-on to standard outpatient care in a range of treatment-seeking populations. In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy and safety of CBT4CBT as a virtual stand-alone treatment, delivered with minimal clinical monitoring, and clinician-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) compared with treatment as usual in a heterogeneous sample of treatment-seeking outpatients with substance use disorders.

Method: This was a randomized clinical trial in which 137 individuals who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for current substance abuse or dependence were randomly assigned to receive treatment as usual, weekly individual CBT, or CBT4CBT with brief weekly monitoring.