Psychopharmacological effects of oxycodone in healthy volunteers: Roles of alcohol-drinking status and sex

Abstract

Background-Studies have shown that alcohol-drinking status modulates psychopharmacological effects of several drugs. We sought to determine if drinking status modulates the effects of a prescription opioid, oxycodone, in healthy volunteers. We included sex of the volunteer in the statistical analyses since this is a factor that is known to alter several pharmacodynamic effects of opioids in nonhumans and humans.Methods-Fifteen light drinkers (eight males) and 14 moderate drinkers (eight males) participated in a crossover, randomized, double-blind study in which they received 0, 10, and 20 mg of oxycodone (p.o.). Dependent measures were subjective, psychomotor/cognitive, reinforcing, and physiological effects.Results-Self-reported alcohol drinking status did not modulate the effects of oxycodone. However, there were a number of Sex × Dose interactions with females reporting more and larger unpleasant effects than males (e.g., visual analog scale ratings of "nauseated" greater in females than in males).Conclusions-Studies have established that moderate drinkers report a greater degree of abuse liability-related effects than do light drinkers with several different drugs, including diazepam, amphetamine, and nitrous oxide, but we were unable to establish this with the prescription opioid, oxycodone. However, we did observe sex differences in several subjective effects of oxycodone, a finding that is consistent with the extant literature showing sex differences in pharmacodynamic effects of opioids.

Predictive Factors for Nausea or Vomiting in Patients with Cancer Who Receive Oral Oxycodone for the First Time: Is Prophylactic Medication for Prevention of Opioid-Induced Nausea or Vomiting Necessary?

“…This finding is in agreement with the results of other studies. [10][11][12] Clinicians need to be alert to the greater risk of opioid-induced nausea or vomiting among women.…”

Effects of cold pressor pain on the abuse liability of intranasal oxycodone in male and female prescription opioid abusers

“…For instance, mean bioavailability for the 15 mg/70 kg dose was 79.5% for females and was 76.5% for males (Lofwall et al, 2011). Several studies have reported that women have more nausea and episodes of vomiting than males after opioid administration, in particular with morphine (Fillingim et al, 2005; Sinclair et al, 1999; Zacny, 2002), but this gender difference is less consistent after oxycodone administration (Zacny and Drum, 2010; Zacny and Gutierrez, 2003, 2009) among non-drug abusing volunteers. Notably, in the current study, despite more vomiting among females, there were no gender differences in ratings of bad effects.…”

Core outcome measures for opioid abuse liability laboratory assessment studies in humans: IMMPACT recommendations

“…In non-drug-abusing healthy volunteers, a number of studies have shown that prescription opioids at supratherapeutic doses impair performance on various cognitive and psychomotor tests, including the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) ([68]), the Baddeley Logical Reasoning Test ([2]), and the Maddox Wing Test ([26]) (e.g., [11]; [48]; [69]; [70]; [71]). In contrast, a number of studies primarily using a computerized version of the DSST ([47]) showed that performance was not impaired after parenteral administration of various full mu agonists, partial mu agonists, and mixed action agonists in non-dependent heroin users (e.g., [27]; [49]; [50]; [51]).…”