Question

An individual is admitted to a hospital rehab center for opioid dependence. They began therapy using Suboxone (partial agonist) at 50 mg/day. Each week, their dosage was reduced by 10 mg until they weaned off the medication. They were then released and sent home. Explain what happened physiologically during their treatment

Answer 1

Answer )

Suboxone comes in Sublingual form and is Combination of Buprenorphine and Naloxone .

Buprenorphine is partial opioids agonist and Naloxone is opioids antagonist .

Opiods acts through its receptors and there are three receptors mu,Kappa and Delta .

Mu receptor	kappa	Delta
Sedation	Dysphoria (Psychomimmetic effects )	Spinal analgesia
Analgesia	Constipation	Modulation of hormone
Constipation	Analgesia	Neurotransmitter release
Respiratory depression
Truncal Rigidity
Euphoria
Meiosis

Opiods are highly addictive substances and suden discontinuation lead to withdrawal syndrome characterised by Rhinnorhea ,Lacrimation,Yawning ,Mydriasis ,Vomiting ,Diarrhea and Anxiety .Most of these symptoms are opposite to normal actions of Opioids .

If addiction is of long duration sudden withdrawal may be dangerous ( due to above withdrawal symptoms ) .In such Buprenorphine act as partial agonist and prevent from withdrawal symptoms through its physiological actions on mu receptors by stimulating it and is much less addictive .Naloxone help to prevent relapse after deaddiction .Naloxone prevents Euphoric action by blocking Mu receptors .