Opioids, immunology, and host defenses of intravenous drug abusers

Overall, it is apparent that opioids do affect host defense mechanisms. Heroin users present with an altered and functionally impaired immune system and have a higher prevalence of infectious diseases than do nonaddicts. Individuals exposed to opioid treatment for pain management during surgical procedures or maintained on oral methadone for treatment of drug addiction show either no effect or a suppressed immune system, depending on dosage and, in the case of methadone-maintained patients, duration of drug treatment. Confounding factors in these studies undermine definitive conclusions about the mechanisms by which opioids induce their immunomodulatory effects. Animal models have provided the means by which investigators can study the effects of opioids in a complex, biologic system that is easily manipulated and controlled. Findings from these studies have confirmed human data associating a pathogenic susceptibility with opioid use. Animal models have shown the complexity of this association. Interaction of the CNS, the autonomic nervous system, and the HPA axis is required for the varied effects of opioids on the immune system. By implication, exogenous opioids may be mimicking pathways by which endogenous opioids are involved in regulating immune defenses. To minimize the increased incidence of infectious diseases in heroin users and individuals clinically exposed to opioids, it will be important to determine the individual and collective effects of the opioid-induced activation of these pathways and the consequences of that activation to the immune system.