• Nasim Zamani, Hossein Hassanian-Moghaddam, Amir Hossein Bayat, Abbas Haghparast, Shahin Shadnia, Mitra Rahimi, Behrouz Hashemi Demaneh, and Nasim Assar.
• Department of Clinical Toxicology, Loghman-Hakim Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Excellent Center of Clinical Toxicology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
• Toxicol. Lett. 2015 Feb 3; 232 (3): 590-4.

AbstractThe method of choice for reversal of opioid-toxicity is administration of naloxone. This treatment can be accompanied by complications including acute lung-injury, myocardial infarction, or withdrawal-syndrome (in dependent-patients). We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of buprenorphine in reversal of opioid-overdose syndrome in dependent-rats. A prospective case-control study was designed, in which a total of 30 rats were put on opioid-dependency protocol with 10 mg/kg of intra-peritoneal morphine twice daily for 10 days. After confirmation of dependency by naloxone administration, the rats were overdosed by giving 16 mg/kg of intra-peritoneal methadone. They were divided into four groups receiving naloxone (n=7; 2 mg/kg) and buprenorphine(n=8, 8, and 7 with doses of 3 mg/kg, 6 mg/kg, and 10 mg/kg), respectively. These four groups were compared regarding reversal of opioid signs/symptoms and development of withdrawal-syndrome. Rats in the first group showed signs/symptoms of opioid-withdrawal severely and with a higher frequency (P<0.001). In the groups 2-4, all doses recovered the intoxicated-rats without inducing signs/symptoms of withdrawal; however, the 3mg/kg dose reversed toxicity slower (P<0.001) and one rat in this group died later due to the re-development of signs of toxicity. Buprenorphine recovers opioid-overdose in morphine-dependent rats and bypasses the withdrawal-syndrome due to administration of naloxone.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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