Abstract
Buprenorphine is a mixed opioid agonist-antagonist, which acts as a partial mu agonist and a kappa antagonist. The present study evaluated the acute effects of buprenorphine on cerebral glucose metabolism (CMRglc) in six human substance abusers using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced, crossover design. Each subject participated in two positron emission tomographic (PET) studies, 1 week apart, following the injection of buprenorphine (1 mg, intramuscularly) and placebo. Buprenorphine significantly reduced CMRglc and the regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRglc) by up to 32% in all but three of 22 bilateral and in 4 midline regions (p < .05). No region showed an increase in rCMRglc. Buprenorphine also produced miosis, respiratory depression, and subjective ratings of euphoria and sedation in comparison to placebo (p < .05). These observations extend previous findings of reduced CMRglc following acute treatment with morphine and other nonopioid euphorigenic drugs.
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Walsh, S., Gilson, S., Jasinski, D. et al. Buprenorphine Reduces Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Polydrug Abusers. Neuropsychopharmacol 10, 157–170 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.1994.18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.1994.18
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