Disease relevance of Heroin Dependence

• The observed abnormalities in liver function were associated with a daily oxacillin sodium dose of greater than or equal to 12 gm as well as with heroin addiction and staphylococcal endocarditis [1].
• Hepatic cirrhosis in young adults: association with adolescent onset of alcohol and parenteral heroin abuse [2].
• The early development of cirrhosis in these young patients may be related to multiple hepatic injuries induced by alcohol and parenteral heroin abuse and to the onset of addictive diseases during adolescence or early adult life [2].
• The evidence is less conclusive for the use of omega-3 fatty acids as augmentation treatment in schizophrenia, melatonin for tardive dyskinesia and 18-methoxycoronaridine, an ibogaine derivative, for the treatment of cocaine and heroin addiction [3].
• All nine patients met DSM-III-R criteria for concurrent cocaine and heroin dependence, were neurologically normal, were negative for the human immunodeficiency virus, and had normal clinical brain MRI scans [4].

Psychiatry related information on Heroin Dependence

• The concordance among the three methods for diagnoses of current dependence disorders was good or excellent for alcohol, anxiolytic, cocaine, and heroin dependence and fair for cannabis dependence [5].
• Alcohol abuse was found in 51 patients (96%), and parenteral heroin abuse was seen in 52 (98%) [2].
• Trough serum methadone concentration was measured in 43 patients under treatment for heroin addiction and complaining of withdrawal symptoms [6].
• Punishment induces risky decision-making in methadone-maintained opiate users but not in heroin users or healthy volunteers [7].
• It is unknown whether altered dopaminergic tone existed before opiate addiction, is a result of heroin addiction, or is reflective of methadone maintenance [8].

High impact information on Heroin Dependence

• Serum testosterone levels were also approximately 43 per cent lower in methadone clients than in controls or heroin users [9].
• CONTEXT: Results from several studies conducted in the early 1990s showed that the majority of US methadone maintenance programs did not use treatment practices that met established standards for the care of heroin users [10].
• Disruptive behavior was documented in the records of 38 of 71 active cocaine or heroin users admitted during 1988 vs 12 of 64 matched control subjects [11].
• We analyzed sera of 50 consecutively hospitalized heroin-abuse patients for precipitins against several antigens [12].
• CONTEXT: Effective alternatives to long waiting lists for entry into methadone hydrochloride maintenance treatment are needed to reduce the complications of continuing heroin dependence and to increase methadone treatment entry [13].

Chemical compound and disease context of Heroin Dependence

• Patients receiving propoxyphene reported more withdrawal-related symptoms early in treatment, tended to drop out sooner than patients receiving methadone, and were more likely to abuse heroin [14].
• Pharmacological approaches to long-term abstinence with heroin addiction include methadone, LAAM, and naltrexone [15].
• Association analysis of the dopamine D4 gene exon III VNTR and heroin abuse in Chinese subjects [16].
• Evidence for an association between heroin dependence and a VNTR polymorphism at the serotonin transporter locus [17].
• Heroin addiction treated by atropine coma [18].

Biological context of Heroin Dependence

• Gastric emptying, glucose tolerance and associated hormonal changes in heroin addiction [19].
• Methadone, the synthetic narcotic used to treat heroin addiction, was tested in rats for its ability to block ovulation [20].
• Based on the genotype and allele frequencies of the genomic control loci, there was no evidence for stratification bias capable of masking an association of OPRD1 to heroin dependence in this large and homogenous Chinese sample [21].
• In contrast to an earlier published report of reduced sperm motility in methadone and heroin users, normal motility was noted in this sample [22].
• When we compared the heroin-abuse group with controls, we found no significant difference between the patients and controls for either polymorphism in the DRD4 gene or their haplotypes [23].

Anatomical context of Heroin Dependence

• Biochemical changes were restricted to the nucleus accumbens in which concentrations of G(alpha)1 and/or G(alpha)2 were reduced by 32-49% in the methamphetamine and heroin users [24].
• The compound, methadone, used as a modality in the treatment of heroin addiction, was tested for mutagenic activity in germ cells of Drosophila [25].
• Normal basal and LHRH-stimulated LH and FSH levels suggest that chronic heroin abuse depressed testicular function via the hypothalamus or higher centres [26].
• Septic arthritis of the sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) is a rare disorder, and is usually associated with predisposing factors such as contiguous foci of infection, heroin addiction, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes mellitus [27].

Gene context of Heroin Dependence

• Allelic association analysis of the dopamine D2, D3, 5-HT2A, and GABA(A)gamma2 receptors and serotonin transporter genes with heroin abuse in Chinese subjects [28].
• Therefore, these data do not support an association between the OPRD1 gene and heroin dependence in the Chinese population [21].
• Combined effect of promoter polymorphisms in the dopamine D4 receptor and the serotonin transporter genes in heroin dependence [29].
• CONCLUSIONS: These results strongly support a role of DRD2 as a susceptibility gene with heroin dependence in Chinese patients and was associated with low risk of heroin dependence in Germans [30].
• The finding of significantly lower total and free T together with higher SHBG indicates an abnormal testicular function in heroin addiction [26].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Heroin Dependence

• Agonist-like or antagonist-like treatment for cocaine dependence with methadone for heroin dependence: two double-blind randomized clinical trials [31].
• 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 [32].
• Five transplant recipients (2.7%) had a history of heroin abuse and had undergone drug and alcohol rehabilitation, but could not be weaned off methadone [33].
• Thus, to the extent that the self-administration and the reinstatement procedures provide valid preclinical models for drug use and relapse in humans, our data suggest that acamprosate may not be effective in altering drug-taking behavior in heroin users [34].
• The aim of this research is to consider the effects of the methadone, buprenorphine and LAAM, as used in maintenance pharmacotherapy for heroin dependence, upon simulated driving [35].

References