Conclusions: Comparable rates of illicit drug use at 6 months may be expected irrespective of maintenance medication, while increased retention may be expected for patients maintained on methadone relative to those maintained on Suboxone or Subutex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology)

Abstract
In spite of the clinical utility of buprenorphine, parenteral abuse of this medication has been reported in several laboratory investigations and in the real world. Studies have demonstrated lower abuse liability of the buprenorphine/naloxone combination relative to buprenorphine alone. However, clinical research has not yet examined the utility of the combined formulation to deter intranasal use in a buprenorphine‐maintained population. Heroin‐using volunteers (n = 12) lived in the hospital for 8–9 weeks and were maintained on each of three sublingual buprenorphine doses (2, 8, 24 mg). Under each maintenance dose, participants completed laboratory sessions during which the reinforcing and subjective effects of intranasal doses of buprenorphine (8, 16 mg), buprenorph…

Abstract
In spite of the clinical utility of buprenorphine, parenteral abuse of this medication has been reported in several laboratory investigations and in the real world. Studies have demonstrated lower abuse liability of the buprenorphine/naloxone combination relative to buprenorphine alone. However, clinical research has not yet examined the utility of the combined formulation to deter intranasal use in a buprenorphine‐maintained population. Heroin‐using volunteers (n = 12) lived in the hospital for 8–9 weeks and were maintained on each of three sublingual buprenorphine doses (2, 8, 24 mg). Under each maintenance dose, participants completed laboratory sessions during which the reinforcing and subjective effects of intranasal doses of buprenorphine (8, 16 mg), buprenorph…

CONCLUSION: In a chronic pain patient continued on Suboxone perioperatively, significant improvement in control of postoperative pain was observed following tapered doses, and eventually her use of Suboxone was discontinued. This case highlights the potential for opioid receptor blockade by Suboxone, which can interfere with acute pain management.
PMID: 24985936 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher] (Source: Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia)

Although substitution therapy with opiate agonist treatments such as methadone and buprenorphine has resulted in a reduction of illicit drug use related harm, such treatment has also resulted in severe problems in some countries where opioid-dependent individuals now inject illicitly sold buprenorphine or buprenorphine-naloxone instead of heroin. There is no approved treatment for buprenorphine dependence. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist which has been used for the treatment of both alcohol and opioid dependencies. Although both buprenorphine and heroin resemble each other concerning their effects, buprenorphine has a higher affinity to opioid receptors than heroin. Therefore, it is not known if naltrexone can block the psychoactive effects of buprenorphine as it does for heroin. This p…

CONCLUSION: In a chronic pain patient continued on Suboxone perioperatively, significant improvement in control of postoperative pain was observed following tapered doses, and eventually her use of Suboxone was discontinued. This case highlights the potential for opioid receptor blockade by Suboxone, which can interfere with acute pain management.
PMID: 24985936 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher] (Source: Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia)

Although substitution therapy with opiate agonist treatments such as methadone and buprenorphine has resulted in a reduction of illicit drug use related harm, such treatment has also resulted in severe problems in some countries where opioid-dependent individuals now inject illicitly sold buprenorphine or buprenorphine-naloxone instead of heroin. There is no approved treatment for buprenorphine dependence. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist which has been used for the treatment of both alcohol and opioid dependencies. Although both buprenorphine and heroin resemble each other concerning their effects, buprenorphine has a higher affinity to opioid receptors than heroin. Therefore, it is not known if naltrexone can block the psychoactive effects of buprenorphine as it does for heroin. This p…