The quantitative assessment of physical dependence on opiates

Opioid Drugs: A Comparative Survey of Therapeutic and "Street" Use

“…The questionnaire was devised with some modification of questions previously used to assess substance use and withdrawal patterns [12,13,41–53]. Participants were questioned on experiences of opioid drug craving, which may have been due to a desire to reexperience a euphoric effect or physiological need, reflecting reinforcement of the compulsion to use and consequent psychological dependence.…”

Dependence liability of two antidiarrheals, nufenoxole and loperamide

“…H The naloxone protocol in this study has previously shown that objective measurements of withdrawal severity were related to the degree of opiate use and that 3 signs-hand tremor, trapezius EMG activity, and heart rate-were the most sensitive measures of opiate withdrawal. 19 In this experiment naloxone given intravenously did not change any physiologic measurement sufficiently to be comparable to changes observed in opiate addicts experiencing moderate to severe withdrawal. 19 Naloxoneinduced changes in some parameters were even in a direction opposite to those expected.…”

“…19 In this experiment naloxone given intravenously did not change any physiologic measurement sufficiently to be comparable to changes observed in opiate addicts experiencing moderate to severe withdrawal. 19 Naloxoneinduced changes in some parameters were even in a direction opposite to those expected. In addicts experiencing naloxone-induced withdrawal, trapezius EMG activity usually increases up to 600%.…”

Cross-tolerance to cannabinoids in morphine-tolerant rhesus monkeys

“…Discontinuation of treatment with 10 mg/kg morphine twice daily resulted in the emergence of modest withdrawal. Telemetry devices continuously measure physiological signs, including heart rate, which is a sensitive indicator of opioid withdrawal in humans (Zilm and Sellers 1978) and monkeys . Changes in activity during the dark cycle can indicate sleep disturbances, a common and important manifestation of withdrawal in humans (Gossop and Bradley 1984), that has also been demonstrated in monkeys .…”

“…Studies with rodents have yielded mixed results with regard to the development of cross-tolerance to cannabinoids during chronic morphine treatment; thus, this study examined whether cross-tolerance develops to cannabinoids (antinociception as measured in a warm water tail withdrawal procedure) in monkeys treated daily with morphine. Doses of morphine used in this study produced morphine tolerance and dependence, as evidenced by the emergence of withdrawal when treatment was discontinued (direct observation and telemetry to measure heart rate, a sensitive indicator of withdrawal [Zilm and Sellers 1978], as well as changes in activity and body temperature).…”