Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Intravascular Delivery of Biologics to the Rat Kidney
Published on: September 1, 2016
[Infectious complications and misuse of high-dose buprenorphine]
C Cazorla1, D Grenier de Cardenal, H Schuhmacher
1Service des maladies infectieuses et tropicales, CHU de Nancy (54).
Background:
High-dose buprenorphine (HDB) treatment began in France in 1996 according to relatively unrestricted prescription rules. Continued heroin injection by patients on HDB maintenance treatment and even HDB injection remain underestimated and may lead to a variety of infectious diseases.
Objectives:
Description of infectious complications occurring in patients receiving HDB maintenance treatment.
Methods:
Retrospective study of drug addicts receiving HDB maintenance treatment, injecting (or highly suspected of injecting) it, and hospitalized for infections (other than HIV or viral hepatitis) in the department of infectious and tropical diseases in Nancy University Hospital. Data collection covered 1998 through 2003.
Results:
We identified 21 case reports, 9 concerning infectious endocarditis, 8 cutaneous abscesses, 2 osteoarticular infections, 1 meningitis and 1 Candida retinitis. The sex-ratio was of 1 woman for 2 men, and the patients' mean age was 29.8 years. Globally 13 patients had systemic infections. Nine patients admitted having injected HDB (and no other drugs) (including the case of Candida retinitis), while in the other 12 cases, the patients continued injecting heroin as well. The role of misused HDB was strongly suspected in those 12 infections, but was not clearly confirmed. All patients recovered from the infections. The long-term psychosocial outcome remains unknown.
Conclusion:
The cases analyzed illustrate the dual reality that HDB is often ineffective as a maintenance treatment, since some patients continue to inject heroin, and that its misuse can have infectious consequences. The results of HDB maintenance treatment substitution are mixed. The individual benefit/risk ratio must be improved. Networking is crucial, notably between physician and pharmacist, and the monitoring system must be reinforced.
Related Concept Videos
Pulmonary Tuberculosis I
Causative Organism
The primary infectious agent causing tuberculosis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow-growing, acid-fast, aerobic rod that exhibits sensitivity to heat and ultraviolet light. Instances of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium contributing to the development of TB infection are rare.
Mode of...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Opioid Analgesics: Synthetic and Semisynthetic Opioids
Drug Accumulation During Multiple Dosing: Intermittent IV Infusions
Drug Toxicity: Dose-Dependent Reactions
Desensitization and Tachyphylaxis
Several...

