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Effect of LAAM Dose on Opiate Use in Opioid‐Dependent Patients: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Oliveto Alison H.,
Farren Conor,
Kosten Thomas R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1521-0391.1998.tb00346.x
Subject(s) - medicine , crossover study , opiate , regimen , opioid , anesthesia , heroin , pharmacology , drug , receptor , alternative medicine , pathology , placebo
The authors conducted a 16‐week study with nine opioid‐dependent individuals (six male; four white/two African American/three Hispanic; age 36.8±2.2 years). Participants were assigned to either a low‐dose (165 mg/week; n = 5) or high‐dose (330 mg/week; n = 4) Levo‐alpha‐acetylmethadol (LAAM) condition according to a randomized, double‐blind, within‐subjects crossover design, such that they were inducted onto one maintenance dose for 4 weeks and then were crossed over to receive the converse for 4 weeks. Subsequently, individuals underwent detoxification from LAAM. Eight of nine participants completed the study protocol. The proportion of urine samples positive for opiates was 0.22 ± 0.08 and 0.53 ± 0.12, under the high‐ and low‐dose conditions, respectively (F = 11.8; P = 0.01). These results show that LAAM dose regimen affects the degree of abstinence from opioids.