Progress in agonist therapy for substance use disorders: Lessons learned from methadone and buprenorphine.

Progress in agonist therapy for substance use disorders: Lessons learned from methadone and buprenorphine. Neuropharmacology. 2019 Apr 19;: Authors: Jordan CJ, Cao J, Newman AH, Xi ZX Abstract Substance use disorders (SUD) are serious public health problems worldwide. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the neurobiology of drug reward and the transition to addiction, effective pharmacotherapies for SUD remain limited and a majority of drug users relapse even after a period of treatment. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several medications for opioid, nicotine, and alcohol use disorders, whereas none are approved for the treatment of cocaine or other psychostimulant use disorders. The medications approved by the FDA for the treatment of SUD can be divided into two major classes - agonist replacement therapies, such as methadone and buprenorphine for opioid use disorders (OUD), nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and varenicline for nicotine use disorders (NUD), and antagonist therapies, such as naloxone for opioid overdose and naltrexone for promoting abstinence. In the present review, we primarily focus on the pharmacological rationale of agonist replacement strategies in treatment of opioid dependence, and the potential translation of this rationale to new therapies for cocaine use disorders. We begin by describing the neural mechanisms underlying opioid reward, followed by pr...
Source: Neuropharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Neuropharmacology Source Type: research