Advances in the delivery of buprenorphine for opioid dependence.

ABSTRACT: Opioid use disorders (OUDs) have long been a global problem, but the prevalence rates have increased over 20 years to epidemic proportions in the US, with concomitant increases in morbidity and all-cause mortality, but especially opioid overdose. These increases are in part attributable to a several-fold expansion in the prescription of opioid pain medications over the same time period. Opioid detoxification and psychosocial treatments alone have each not yielded sufficient efficacy for OUD, but μ-opioid receptor agonist, partial agonist, and antagonist medications have demonstrated the greatest overall benefit in OUD treatment. Buprenorphine, a μ-opioid receptor partial agonist, has been used successfully on an international basis for several decades in sublingual tablet and film preparat

SUBMITTER: Rosenthal RN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5584886 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature