Obese patients may have breathing problems after taking buprenorphine, a drug used in the treatment of opioid addiction finds a new study.

- Buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction can cause breathing problems in obese patients.
- Buprenorphine can impair breathing control in obese patients after tasks such as climbing stairs.
- Buprenorphine is used in opioid addiction treatment regime because it has lower abuse potential than methadone.





The previously unknown side effects of buprenorphine can help all doctors improve patient care explained the study’s lead author, Ralph Lydic, Robert H. Cole.
The study has come at the right time, as the state and federal officials are dealing with ways to combat the nation’s growing opioid abuse epidemic. A recent study from an Appalachian Regional Commission showed that Appalachia had the greatest rate of opioid abuse and this abuse was growing at a faster rate than other countries.
Previous human studies have reported an increased risk of respiratory failure by opioid intake in obese female patients.
"Given the impressive similarity between mouse and human genes, the mouse data encourage studying the effects of buprenorphine on breathing variability in male and female obese humans," Lydic said.
"Recovery from opioid addiction is very difficult and, in the most successful cases, can require two or more years," he said.
Reference
- Chelsea Angel; Zachary T. Glovak; Wateen Alami; Sara Mihalko; Josh Price; Yandong Jiang; Helen A. Baghdoyan; Ralph Lydic. Buprenorphine Depresses Respiratory Variability in Obese Mice with Altered Leptin Signaling, Anesthesiology (2018).DOI: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002073
Source-Medindia