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Brain opioid receptor binding in early abstinence from opioid dependence

Positron emission tomography study

Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol and MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Division of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London

Lindsay G. Taylor, MSc, DRI, DAppSc

Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol

Alexander Hammers, PhD, MD

MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Division of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London

David J. Brooks, MD, DSc, FRCP, FMedSci

MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Division of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London

Paul Grasby, MBBS, DCM, MRCPsych, MD, FRCP, FMedSci

MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Division of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London

Judith S. Myles, MB BCh, BAO, FRCPsych

Bristol Specialist Drug Service, Blackberry Hill Hospital, Bristol

David J. Nutt, DM, FRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci

Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol, UK

Correspondence: Professor David Nutt, Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, Whitson Street, Bristol BS1 3NY. Email: david.j.nutt{at}bristol.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background Although opioid receptor function in humans is clearly reduced during opioid dependence, what happens to the receptor in early abstinence is not understood.

Aims This study sought to examine changes in opioid receptor availability in early abstinence from opioid dependence.

Method Ten people with opioid dependence who had completed in-patient detoxification and 20 healthy controls underwent [¹¹C]-diprenorphine positron emission tomography. Clinical variables were assessed with structured questionnaires. Opioid receptor binding was characterised as the volume of distribution of [¹¹C]-diprenorphine using a template of predefined brain volumes and an exploratory voxel-by-voxel analysis.

Results Compared with controls, participants with opioid dependence had increased [¹¹C]-diprenorphine binding in the whole brain and in 15 of the 21 a priori regions studied.

Conclusions This study suggests that opioid receptor binding is increased throughout the brain in early abstinence from dependent opioid use. These data complement the findings in cocaine and alcohol dependence.

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