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A randomized controlled trial on the seeds of Sophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides for the treatment of acute heroin withdrawal syndrome. 

Hashem-Dabaghian F, Kianbakht S. 

Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2023 Feb 18;51:101740. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2023.101740. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36827871. 

Abstract

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S174438812300021X

New Synthetic Opioids: Clinical Considerations and Dangers. 

Edinoff AN, Martinez Garza D, Vining SP, Vasterling ME, Jackson ED, Murnane KS, Kaye AM, Fair RN, Torres YJL, Badr AE, Cornett EM, Kaye AD. 

Pain Ther. 2023 Feb 24:1–23. doi: 10.1007/s40122-023-00481-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36826742; PMCID: PMC9950705.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9950705/

MicroRNA–mRNA networks are dysregulated in opioid use disorder postmortem brain: Further evidence for opioid-induced neurovascular alterations. 

Grimm SL, Mendez EF, Stertz L, Meyer TD, Fries GR, Gandhi T, Kanchi R, Selvaraj S, Teixeira AL, Kosten TR, Gunaratne P, Coarfa C and Walss-Bass C (2023) 

Front. Psychiatry 13:1025346. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1025346

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1025346/full

Opioid Use Disorder from Poppy Seed Tea Use: A Case Report. 

Kauppila GR, Eagen KV. 

Am J Case Rep. 2023 Jan 26;24:e938675. doi: 10.12659/AJCR.938675. PMID: 36698302.

https://amjcaserep.com/abstract/full/idArt/938675

USA. New Potent Synthetic Opioid—N-Desethyl Isotonitazene—Proliferating Among Recreational Drug Supply in USA 

N-Desethyl isotonitazene is a new synthetic opioid bearing structural resemblance to isotonitazene and recently emergent nitazene analogues. N-Desethyl isotonitazene is dissimilar in chemical structure to fentanyl, the synthetic opioid most commonly encountered, but this subclass of new opioids has been proliferating in the wake of the scheduling of fentanyl analogues. N-Desethyl isotonitazene is a known metabolite of isotonitazene; however, it has now emerged as a primary drug in its own right. Most nitazene analogues encountered retain opioid receptor activity and potency similar to or greater than fentanyl. (CSFRE – The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, USA, 23.01.2023)

https://www.cfsre.org/nps-discovery/public-alerts/new-potent-synthetic-opioid-n-desethyl-isotonitazene-proliferating-among-recreational-drug-supply-in-usa

Schottland. RADAR Alert 2023/04, Nitazene type drugs in Scotland

There is an increase in the availability of a new type of synthetic opioid called nitrazenes. Due to their unexpected presence they pose a substantial risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death (Public Health Scotland, Schottland, 24.01.2023)

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/radar-alert-202304-nitazene-type-drugs-in-scotland/

The life and times of endogenous opioid peptides: Updated understanding of synthesis, spatiotemporal dynamics, and the clinical impact in alcohol use disorder. 

Margolis EB, Moulton MG, Lambeth PS, O'Meara MJ. 

Neuropharmacology. 2022 Dec 11;225:109376. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109376. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36516892.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002839082200435X

Pharmacological evaluation and forensic case series of N-pyrrolidino etonitazene (etonitazepyne), a newly emerging 2-benzylbenzimidazole ‘nitazene’ synthetic opioid. 

Vandeputte, M.M., Krotulski, A.J., Walther, D. et al.

Arch Toxicol 96, 1845–1863 (2022). doi.org/10.1007/s00204-022-03276-4

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00204-022-03276-4

Synthetic opioids: a review and clinical update. 

Shafi A, Berry AJ, Sumnall H, Wood DM, Tracy DK. 

Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2022 Dec 10;12:20451253221139616. doi: 10.1177/20451253221139616. PMID: 36532866; PMCID: PMC9747888.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9747888/

Prescription opioids and longitudinal changes in cognitive function in older adults: A population-based observational study.

Warner, NS, Hanson, AC, Schulte, PJ, Habermann, EB, Warner, DO, Mielke, MM. 

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022; 1- 12. doi:10.1111/jgs.18030

Abstract

https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jgs.18030

Israel. Earliest evidence of opium use found in burial site in Israel

Evidence of the earliest use of the narcotic opium has been found in an ancient burial site in Israel.

Traces were discovered by archaeologists in pottery vessels at the complex in Yehud, about 11km (7 miles) south-east of Tel Aviv.

They say the containers date back about 3,400 years, apparently having been used in local burial rituals. 

The site was used by inhabitants during the period when the land was known as Canaan. (BBC, UK, 20.09.2022)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62930429

Could Opium Gum be the Solution to the Overdose Crisis?

The prohibitionist regime surrounding the adult use of drugs has had devastating impacts on individuals, communities, and entire regions, spurring corruption, deteriorating the rule of law, and resulting in numerous human rights violations.  The harms of prohibition have been broadly documented and yet, policy makers and politicians continue to uphold the status quo, even as policy innovations demonstrate a new and progressive way forward. 

The illegal heroin market has dramatically transformed in the last few years, with the substitution or adulteration of fentanyl “poisoning” the market and spurring an overdose crisis tragically seen in the United States and Canada, among other nations. Within this context, as overdose deaths rise, the price of opium gum, as it is known before it is transformed into heroin, has fallen by 80% since 2018. This drop in prices directly impacts cultivating communities in Mexico, which use poppy crops as a complementary cultivation along with subsistence farming. 

As researchers and advocates for drug policy reforms centred on people, human rights, sustainable development, harm reduction, pleasure, and social justice, we have been working in Mexico to highlight how opium gum could become one of several opiate-based products offered within a legal market that simultaneously combats the poverty of cultivating communities and prevents overdoses of people who inject drugs. (Talking Drugs, UK, 22.08.2022)

https://www.talkingdrugs.org/could-opium-gum-be-the-solution-to-the-overdose-crisis

Dynamic recognition of naloxone, morphine and endomorphin1 in the same pocket of µ-opioid receptors. 

Zhang X, Sun MY, Zhang X, Guo CR, Lei YT, Wang WH, Fan YZ, Cao P, Li CZ, Wang R, Li XH, Yu Y, Yang XN. 

Front Mol Biosci. 2022 Aug 16;9:925404. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.925404. PMID: 36052166; PMCID: PMC9424762.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9424762/

Ptchd1 mediates opioid tolerance via cholesterol-dependent effects on μ-opioid receptor trafficking. 

Maza, N., Wang, D., Kowalski, C. et al.

Nat Neurosci (2022). doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01135-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-022-01135-0

Characterizing the Experience of Tapentadol Nonmedical Use: Mixed Methods Study. 

Vosburg SK, Dailey-Govoni T, Beaumont J, Butler SF, Green JL. 

JMIR Form Res. 2022 Jun 10;6(6):e16996. doi: 10.2196/16996. PMID: 35687397; PMCID: PMC9233245.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9233245/

Novel Synthetic Opioids (NSO) Use in Opioid Dependents Entering Detoxification Treatment. 

Specka M, Kuhlmann T, Bonnet U, Sawazki J, Schaaf L, Kühnhold S, Steinert R, Grigoleit T, Eich H, Zeiske B, Niedersteberg A, Steiner K, Schifano F, Scherbaum N. 

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 1;13:868346. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.868346. PMID: 35722574; PMCID: PMC9198264.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9198264/

The Problematic Use of Tramadol Is Increasing in France

Caroline Guignot

Medscape - Apr 18, 2022.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/972311

USA. Challenges in Identifying Novel Psychoactive Substances and a Stronger Path Forward

The importance of non-targeted testing to keep pace with a rapidly evolving synthetic opioid market. (NIJ – National Institute of Justice, USA, 11.06.2022)

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/challenges-identifying-novel-psychoactive-substances-and-stronger-path-forward

P300 Event-Related Potentials as a Marker of Craving in Opioid Use Disorder: a Systematic Literature Review 

Skrenes A., Labonté L.E., Muñoz-Violant S., Khehra J., Krigolson O., and Schütz C

HEROIN ADDICTION AND RELATED CLINICAL PROBLEMS - Vol. 24 • No. N3 • June 2022

Anmeldung erforderlich

https://www.heroinaddictionrelatedclinicalproblems.org/harcp-archives.php?year=2022

Opioidreport 2022 (begleitender Foliensatz)

Gerd Glaeske 

unter Mitarbeit von Andrea Ernst, Friederike Höfel, Elisabeth Horn, Mona Lorenz, Julia Misonow, Lutz Muth, Anna Nymbach-Dietrich, Jonas Poskowsky 

März 2022, Universität Bremen, SOCIUM, Mary-Somerville-Str. 5, 28359 Bremen 

Begleitender Foliensatz

https://www.hkk.de/fileadmin/dateien/allgemeines_uebergeordnet/reports/gesundheitsreports/2022_foliensatz_hkk_gesundheitsreport_opioide_aktualisiert.pdf

Opioidreport 2022 

Gerd Glaeske 

unter Mitarbeit von Andrea Ernst, Friederike Höfel, Elisabeth Horn, Mona Lorenz, Julia Misonow, Lutz Muth, Anna Nymbach-Dietrich, Jonas Poskowsky 

März 2022, Universität Bremen, SOCIUM, Mary-Somerville-Str. 5, 28359 Bremen 

https://www.hkk.de/fileadmin/dateien/allgemeines_uebergeordnet/reports/gesundheitsreports/2022_hkk_gesundheitsreport_opioide_web.pdf

Zu früh, zu oft: Werden Opioide von Ärzten unterschätzt? Studie unter Leitung des Arzneimittelexperten Prof. Dr. Gerd Glaeske

Forscherteam der Universität Bremen ermittelt steigende Vergabe bei zweifelhaften Indikationen - trotz hoher Suchtgefahr

Kritik: Leichtfertige Verordnung von Opioiden wie Fentanyl

Aktionstag gegen den Schmerz am 7. Juni

(HKK - Handelskrankenkasse, Bremen, 02.06.2022)

https://www.hkk.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2022-06-02-hkk-gesundheitsreport-opioide

Kamini, a little recognised source of illicit opioid: A case series of 12 patients. 

Khan T, Ariyawansa P, Quinn J, Hayllar J. 

Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022 May 12. doi: 10.1111/dar.13475. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35555819.

Abstract

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35555819/

Trace residue identification, characterization, and longitudinal monitoring of the novel synthetic opioid β-U10, from discarded drug paraphernalia. 

West H, Fitzgerald JL, Hopkins KL, Leeming MG, DiRago M, Gerostamoulos D, Clark N, Dietze P, White JM, Ziogas J, Reid GE. 

Drug Test Anal. 2022 May 13. doi: 10.1002/dta.3284. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35562123.

https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dta.3284

Non-fentanyl-derived synthetic opioids emerging during recent years. 

Hasegawa K, Minakata K, Suzuki M, Suzuki O. 

Forensic Toxicol. 2022 Apr 29:1-10. doi: 10.1007/s11419-022-00624-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35528111; PMCID: PMC9052731.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9052731/

Kanada. CCENDU Drug Alert - Nitazenes

What Are Nitazenes?

Nitazenes are potent synthetic opioids from a drug class known as benzimidazole-opioids.

Some nitazenes are estimated to be several times more potent than fentanyl.

They were developed 60 years ago as potential pain relief medication, but were never approved for clinical use.

They were first identified in the unregulated drug supply in Canada in 2019.

They typically appear unexpectedly in drugs expected to contain other, more traditional opioids (e.g., fentanyl, oxycodone tablets or “down”), often alongside non-medical benzodiazepines (NMBs). (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 2022)

https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2022-03/CCSA-CCENDU-Drug-Alert-Nitazenes-2022-en_0.pdf

New Synthetic Opioids Use among Patients in Treatment for an Opioid Use Disorder in Barcelona. 

Alías-Ferri M, Marchei E, Pacifici R, Pichini S, Pellegrini M, Pérez-Mañá C, Papaseit E, Muga R, Fonseca F, Farré M, Torrens M. 

Eur Addict Res. 2022 Apr 4:1-8. doi: 10.1159/000524011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35378545.

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/524011

New Synthetic Opioids Use among Patients in Treatment for an Opioid Use Disorder in Barcelona. 

Alías-Ferri M, Marchei E, Pacifici R, Pichini S, Pellegrini M, Pérez-Mañá C, Papaseit E, Muga R, Fonseca F, Farré M, Torrens M. 

Eur Addict Res. 2022 Apr 4:1-8. doi: 10.1159/000524011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35378545.

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/524011

Unspecified opioids among opioid overdoses in Oslo, Norway. 

Iqbal ZZ, Nguyen TMT, Brekke M, Vallersnes OM. 

BMC Res Notes. 2022 Apr 9;15(1):134. doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06022-2. PMID: 35397589; PMCID: PMC8994352.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8994352/

Indien. 'Chitta' reaching Himachal via Punjab more lethal

Consuming ‘chitta’ regularly for three to four months could result in platelets falling below 10,000, which could prove fatal. (The Tribune, Indien, 15.04.2022)

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/chitta-reaching-hp-via-punjab-more-lethal-386393