Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Hyperalgesic responses in methadone maintenance patients.

M Doverty1, J M White, A A Somogyi

  • 1Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Adelaide, Australia. mark.doverty@adelaide.edu.au

Pain
|February 13, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Methadone maintenance patients show altered pain sensitivity influenced by drug concentration and stimulus type. While pain tolerance increases with methadone levels, they remain hyperalgesic to cold pressor tests.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Factors associated with persistent opioid use 6-12 months after primary total knee arthroplasty.

Anaesthesia·2022
Same author

Persistent postoperative pain after total knee arthroplasty: a prospective cohort study of potential risk factors.

British journal of anaesthesia·2018
Same author

Placebo-controlled pilot trial testing dose titration and intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous routes for ketamine in depression.

Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica·2016
Same author

Pharmacogenetics of opioid response.

Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics·2015
Same author

Opioid activation of toll-like receptor 4 contributes to drug reinforcement.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2012
Same author

Contrasting effects of diclofenac and ibuprofen on active imatinib uptake into leukaemic cells.

British journal of cancer·2012

Area of Science:

  • Pain research
  • Pharmacology
  • Addiction medicine

Background:

  • Opioid substitution treatment (OST) for opioid dependence may impact pain sensitivity.
  • Previous research on methadone's effect on pain sensitivity has produced conflicting findings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare pain sensitivity in patients receiving stable methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) with matched controls.
  • To investigate how plasma methadone concentrations influence nociceptive responses.

Main Methods:

  • 16 MMT patients and 16 controls were assessed using electrical stimulation and a cold pressor test.
  • Pain detection and pain tolerance thresholds were measured at trough (0h) and peak (3h) methadone concentrations.
  • Plasma methadone concentrations were quantified.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Increasing plasma methadone concentrations elevated pain detection and tolerance thresholds for both stimuli.
  • MMT patients showed lower pain tolerance than controls at trough methadone levels but higher at peak levels for electrical stimulation.
  • MMT patients exhibited increased pain sensitivity (earlier detection, lower tolerance) to the cold pressor test at both trough and peak methadone levels.

Conclusions:

  • Pain sensitivity in MMT patients is complex, varying with plasma methadone concentration, stimulus type, and measurement (detection vs. tolerance).
  • Despite adapting to methadone levels, MMT patients demonstrate significant hyperalgesia to cold pressor stimuli.
  • These findings highlight the need for individualized pain management strategies in patients on methadone maintenance.