1. Cristina M. Cruz Irizarry RISE program
Annotation # 2:
W. MEI,a,b J. X. ZHANGc AND Z. XIAOa,b,d*.2010. ACUTE EFFECTS OF SUBLINGUAL
BUPRENORPHINE ON BRAIN RESPONSES TO HEROIN-RELATED CUES IN EARLY-
ABSTINENT HEROIN ADDICTS: AN UNCONTROLLED TRIAL. aGuangdong Key Lab of
Medical Molecular Imaging and Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of the
Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, PR China.
The researchers from this article are studying the effects of buprenorphine in the brain. It is said
that buprenorphine is great for reducing heroin cravings for addicts during detoxification, but it
is not affective in decreasing the probabilities of relapsing after detoxification. They examine
the effects of buprenorphine on brain responses to heroin related cues. This is very useful for
determining the mechanism of the drug. Fifteen heroin addicts were selected in a very early stage
of abstinence, and studied at two separate stages. After the buprenorphine was administrated to
both groups an fMRI scan was done to visualize the stimulus and formulate observations. The
researchers found that buprenorphine has specific brain targets in lowering the cravings in the
early stage of heroin abstinence. This studied is very important for developing better therapies
for drug addicts. For my review paper this article is key because it demonstrates that
buprenorphine can be further developed in the treatment of drug addicts.