Therapies in early development for the treatment of opiate addiction

Abstract

Introduction: Opiate drugs are psychoactive substances used to manage severe pain. However, their chronic use is associated with the development of addiction. Opiate addiction represents a significant public health concern.

Areas covered: This review focuses on the most recent advances in the pharmacological treatment of opiate addiction, from those being tested in clinical trials (Phase I and II), to preclinical studies that point to new targets. Readers will gain knowledge of the wide variety of treatments used to treat opiate addiction, including their strengths and weaknesses, and the promising pharmacological targets identified by preclinical research.

Expert opinion: Among the currently available agonist therapies, new dosage forms of buprenorphine can increase patient acceptability and compliance. New extended-release forms of naltrexone are building hope of retaining opiate-dependent subjects in a drug-free state. Unfortunately, the review of the literature shows that successful preclinical studies are often followed by discouraging results in human clinical trials. Nevertheless, all targets of potential interest should be tested exhaustively. Indeed, a number of new targets and research lines (genetics and neuroinflammation approaches) may lead to breakthroughs in the future.

Keywords:

• baclofen
• buprenorphine
• glutamate
• methadone
• naltrexone
• neuroinflammation
• neuropeptides
• opiate dependence
• pharmacogenetics
• pregabalin and gabapentin

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Brian Normanly for his English language editing of the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors are supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Dirección General de Investigación, PSI2014-51847-R; the Generalitat Valenciana, Conselleria de Educación, PROMETEOII/2014/063; the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Red de Trastornos Adictivos (RTA) RD12/0028/0005 and the European Union Fund FEDER “una manera de hacer Europa.” The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Notes

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