Toxicologic aspects of heroin substitution treatment

Heroin abuse is an international problem with which all countries must continually cope. Many countries have implemented heroin substitution therapy as an effective means of decreasing illicit heroin use, crime, HIV risk, and death, and in improving employment and social adjustment. Although methadone is the most commonly used medication for heroin substitution, other agonists in current use include levomethadyl acetate (LAAM), buprenorphine, and pharmaceutical-grade heroin. This report reviews toxicologic issues that arise in these programs. A broad array of testing methodologies are available that allow selection of on-site testing or laboratory-based methodology. Urine specimens may be monitored for nonprescribed drugs on a qualitative or semiquantitative basis. Methods for differentiating opiate sources by urinalysis have been proposed to distinguish poppy seed consumption from heroin abuse and for distinguishing pharmaceutical-grade heroin from illicit heroin. Therapeutic drug monitoring for methadone in plasma continues to be evaluated for use in establishing adequate dosing and detecting diversion, and new methods have been devised for measurement of the optical isomers of methadone in plasma. Biologic specimens, in addition to plasma and urine, have been evaluated for use in drug monitoring, including sweat, hair, and oral fluid, with promising results. Overall, the many recent developments in testing methodology provide more effective means to assess patients in heroin substitution programs and should contribute to improvements in public health.