Switching opioid-dependent patients in substitution treatment from racemic methadone, levomethadone and buprenorphine to slow-release oral morphine: Analysis of the switching process in routine care

The Dose-Response Relationship between Opioid Agonist Therapy and Alterations in Pain Pathways in Patients with Opioid Use Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION

The administration of opioids can be followed by enduring neuroplastic changes in the peripheral and central nervous systems. This remodeling can lead to opioid-induced hyperalgesia, causing an increased sensitivity to painful stimuli. The description of opioid-induced changes in the somatosensory system has seldom been described in the setting of opioid agonist therapy in the treatment of opioid use disorders, and the few existing reports provide no guidance with respect to the effect of varied doses or substances.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to assess alterations of pain pathways among patients receiving opioid agonist therapy and to elucidate the dose-response relationship.

METHODS

This study was planned as cross-sectional in an outpatient clinic in Graz, Austria. Patients receiving opioid agonist therapy for opioid use disorders (including methadone, levomethadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release morphine) were asked to fill out a questionnaire, including the central sensitization inventory. A battery of somatosensory system assessments was then performed.

RESULTS

A total of 120 patients participated (85 men/35 women). The mean oral morphine milligram equivalent (MME) was 694 ± 249 mg/day. Our study found significant alterations in pain perception, conditioned pain modulation, and wind-up. We demonstrated a moderate dose-response relationship between high-dose opioids and markers of central sensitization.

CONCLUSION

The present trial demonstrates the clear effects of opioid agonist therapy on the somatosensory system. Both central sensitization and descending pain modulation are negatively affected by high doses of opioids and our data elucidate a moderate dose-response relationship for these phenomena.

Drug consumption rooms are effective to reduce at-risk practices associated with HIV/HCV infections among people who inject drugs: Results from the COSINUS cohort study

AIMS

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of drug consumption rooms (DCRs) in France on injection equipment-sharing, while the secondary aims focused upon their impact on access to hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing and opioid agonist treatment (OAT).

DESIGN

The COhort to identify Structural and INdividual factors associated with drug USe (COSINUS cohort) was a 12-month longitudinal study of 665 people who inject drugs (PWID), conducted in Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris and Strasbourg. We used data from face-to-face interviews at enrolment and at 6-month and 12-month visits.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

The participants were recruited in harm reduction programmes in Bordeaux and Marseille and in DCRs in Strasbourg and Paris. Participants were aged more than 18 years, French-speaking and had injected substances the month before enrolment.

MEASUREMENTS

We measured the impact of DCR exposure on injection equipment sharing, HCV testing and the use of medications for opioid use disorder, after adjustment for significant correlates. We used a two-step Heckman mixed-effects probit model, which allowed us to take into account the correlation of repeated measures and to control for potential bias due to non-randomization between the two groups (DCR-exposed versus DCR-unexposed participants).

FINDINGS

The difference of declared injection equipment sharing between PWID exposed to DCRs versus non-exposed was 10% (1% for those exposed versus 11% for those non-exposed, marginal effect = -0.10; 95% confidence interval = -0.18, -0.03); there was no impact of DCRs on HCV testing and OAT.

CONCLUSIONS

In the French context, drug consumption rooms appear to have a positive impact on at-risk practices for infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus.

New Approaches in Drug Dependence: Opioids

Purpose of Review

This article aims to provide an overview of standard and adjunctive treatment options in opioid dependence in consideration of therapy-refractory courses. The relevance of oral opioid substitution treatment (OST) and measures of harm reduction as well as heroin-assisted therapies are discussed alongside non-pharmacological approaches.

Recent Findings

Currently, recommendation can be given for OST with methadone, buprenorphine, slow-release oral morphine (SROM), and levomethadone. Heroin-assisted treatment using diamorphine shall be considered as a cost-effective alternative for individuals not responding to the afore-mentioned opioid agonists in order to increase retention and reduce illicit opioid use. The modalities of application and the additional benefits of long-acting formulations of buprenorphine should be sufficiently transferred to clinicians and the eligible patients; simultaneously methods to improve planning of actions and self- management need to be refined. Regarding common primary outcomes in research on opioid treatment, evidence of the effectiveness of adjunctive psychological interventions is scarce.

Summary

Maintaining a harm reduction approach in the treatment of opioid addiction, a larger range of formulations is available for the prescribers. Embedding the pharmacological, ideally individualized treatment into a holistic, structure-giving concept also requires a reduction of fragmentation of ancillary services available, drug policies, and treatment philosophies on a global scale.

Substitution treatment for opioid dependence with slow-release oral morphine: Retention rate, health status, and substance use after switching to morphine

INTRODUCTION

Since April 2015, slow-release oral morphine (SROM) has been approved for opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in Germany. Experimental studies show that benefits of SROM over methadone include less heroin craving, better tolerability, and higher patient satisfaction and mental stability. The SROMOS study (Efficacy and Tolerability of Slow-Release Oral Morphine in Opioid Substitution Treatment) aims to investigate the long-term effects (effectiveness and safety) of morphine substitution under routine care in Germany.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This is a prospective, noninterventional, naturalistic, observational study. Between July 2016 and November 2017, this study recruited patients in OAT who decided to switch to SROM from 23 outpatient addiction treatment centers in Germany. The study collected data on mental health (Brief Symptom Inventory - BSI-18), substance use, somatic health (Opiate Treatment Index Health-Symptoms-Scale - OTI-HSS), opioid craving (visual analogue scale), and withdrawal symptoms (Short Opiate Withdrawal Scale) at baseline (t0) and after 3 (t3), 6 (t6) and 12 (t12) months. Physicians documented side effects as adverse events (AEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

RESULTS

Three-quarters of the enrolled study participants (N = 180) were male. The average age was 44.4 years. Patients were opioid-dependent for 23 years and had been in OAT for almost seven years on average. After 12 months, 60.6% were still being treated with SROM. Mental health improved significantly under SROM treatment between t0 and t12. The intention-to-treat (ITT), as well as the per-protocol (PP) analysis, shows a statistically significant improvement of the mean Global Severity Index (GSI) of the BSI-18 value of 20% (ITT) and 24% (PP). Physical health also improved significantly under SROM treatment. There were no statistically significant changes in the use of cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, and tranquillizers in the past 30 days, but heroin use, intravenous consumption, and the number of drinking days significantly decreased.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides some of the first long-term data on OAT with SROM under routine care conditions. SROM treatment is an effective alternative for a subgroup of opioid-dependent patients with an unsatisfactory course of OAT or in cases where undesirable side effects due to alternative substances have occurred.

ETHICAL STATEMENT

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Chamber of Physicians in Hamburg in March 2016 (No. PV5222). The study was conducted by following the Declaration of Helsinki and is registered with the German Register of Clinical Trials (DRKS, ID: DRKS00010712).