Severity of Withdrawal Symptoms, Plasma Oxytocin Levels, and Treatment Outcome in Heroin Users Undergoing Acute Withdrawal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13913600 |
|---|---|
| Authors | K Nikolaou (0000-0002-7670-3226, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital), Δωροθέα Καπουκρανίδου (0000-0002-4618-2837, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Dorothea Kapoukranidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Samuel Ndungu (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Georgios Floros (0000-0001-9736-4203, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Georgios D Floros (0000-0001-8193-3571, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Leda Kovatsi (0000-0003-3264-9499, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 233-241 |
| Publication date | 2017-04-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0279-1072 • E-ISSN: 2159-9777 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02791072.2017.1312644 |
| PMID | 28443705 |
| OpenAlex | W2610111816 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 78 |
Pre-clinical studies show that, following chronic opioid exposure, oxytocin neurons exhibit over-excitation upon withdrawal, causing an increase in oxytocin brain and plasma levels. Relevant clinical data on humans are scarce. This study investigates the opioid withdrawal stress effect on oxytocin plasma levels in humans. We evaluated 57 male chronic heroin users in a residential detoxification program. We determined plasma oxytocin levels by ELISA and measured the stress effects of withdrawal using the COWS scale for opioid withdrawal, the VAS scale for craving, and the Hamilton scales for anxiety and depression on the second day of admission. Out of the 57 patients enrolled in the study, 27 completed the 21-day program, while the remaining 30 dropped out prior to completion. Plasma oxytocin levels were significantly higher in those individuals who dropped out than in those who completed the program. Participants who dropped out at some stage scored higher in the COWS, VAS-Craving, and Hamilton-anxiety scales, indicating a higher stress and explaining the higher oxytocin levels. In addition, plasma oxytocin levels correlated positively with the scores achieved in the COWS and Hamilton-anxiety scales. Higher withdrawal stress levels are associated with higher plasma oxytocin levels and early treatment discharge
Addiction · Anesthesia · Anxiety · Craving · Drug · Heroin · Opioid · Oxytocin · Psychiatry · Medicine · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Neuroscience of respiration and sleep · Psychology · Stress Responses and Cortisol · Internal Medicine
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2022 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |