Opioid-use Disorder

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic relapsing disorder and is well-known for its high-risk rate of overdoses and death. In OUD, sleep and circadian disruptions are highly prevalent, interfere with opioid maintenance treatment outcomes and increase the risk of relapse. So far, commonly used pharmacological sleep treatments fail to improve sleep or decrease illicit drug use in OUD. Thus, there is an urgent need to fill this research gap. Previous work showed that OUD patients who were receiving opioid agonist treatment (MOUD+) exhibited greater irregularity of sleep-wake cycle. In OUD patients, sleep-wake irregularity was associated with years of heroin use and low light exposure. Bright light therapy (BLT) is a very promising circadian/sleep intervention for several sleep, psychiatric and neurological disorders. BLT improved circadian, sleep outcomes and negative mood. In a pilot study, BLT improved objective and subjective sleep in patients with alcohol use disorder. Here investigators proposed an intervention study for MOUD+ patients to determine effects of BLT as an adjunct treatment on sleep and circadian outcomes including endogenous circadian rhythm, rest-activity rhythm and sleep neurophysiology (Primary objectives); and to determine effects of BLT on brain function and on clinical outcomes including negative affect, craving and illicit drug use and whether changes in sleep and circadian rhythm mediate the BLT effect on brain recovery and clinical outcomes (Secondary objectives). Fifty MOUD+ will be assigned either to bright light or to dim light group for 2 weeks. The groups will be matched for age, sex, race and OUD medication (Methadone vs Buprenorphine). The study will run throughout the year such that it occurs during all seasons. Light exposure will be measured with light sensor for additional control. All MOUD+ participants will have a daily 30-min light exposure (bright or dim blue light) in the morning after their habitual wake-up time and will be asked to avoid evening light before bed. Dim light melatonin onset, accelerometer, sleep EEG and questionnaires will be used to measure objective and subjective sleep and circadian outcomes. For brain function, cue-reactivity task will be used to assess brain activation during drug craving. Resting state functional connectivity and brain state dynamics will be assessed by rsfMRI. Mood, opiate craving and illicit drug use will be assessed. All measures will be repeated before and after the treatment. Investigators expect that BLT would normalize sleep and circadian outcomes, attenuate impairments in brain functions and result in better clinical outcomes. If successful, light therapy will provide add-on benefits to opioid agonist therapy and facilitate OUD recovery process.

This exploratory project will assess the acceptability and feasibility of monthly extended-release subcutaneous buprenorphine (BRIXADI; XR-B) to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) among persons in the community receiving care on a mobile pharmacy clinic (MPC). Participants who are interested in initiating monthly or weekly injections of subcutaneous XR-B (BRIXADI) as a treatment for their OUD will be enrolled in a 6-month study assessing the acceptability and feasibility of receiving XR-B on an MPC.

We are studying whether training an identified support person and providing patient navigation (i.e. a peer recovery specialist assisting you with finding the right support) after delivery can increase "recovery capital"-the resources that help people with opioid use disorder (OUD) stay in treatment and recover. This study will build upon the research team's prior work in conducting research among pregnant and parenting women with OUD. This project will be directed by the research team at Friends Research Institute in close collaboration with their research and clinical partners at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. A two-phase study is proposed with an initial 1-year developmental phase (R61) that will develop and pilot test STORC to include support person training. A second 4-year phase (R33) will test STORC in a parallel, two-arm, randomized controlled trial design at two study sites.

The purpose of this study is to see if brenipatide, when compared to placebo, is safe and effective for participants with opioid use disorder, when used with buprenorphine with or without naloxone. The maximum potential duration of study participation for a participant in Part A is approximately 144 weeks, maximum potential duration of study participation for a participant in Part B is approximately 116 weeks. The actual duration will vary for each participant depending on the time of enrollment and the overall rate of study enrollment.

Substance use, including the use of opioids, cannabis, and other drugs, is common among adolescents and young adults, and overdose has become a leading cause of death among youth in Canada and the United States. Many young people who use substances also experience co-occurring mental health concerns. Evidence-based approaches to youth substance use care exist, including overdose prevention and safety strategies (such as naloxone) and medications for addiction treatment. These approaches remain adult-oriented, however, unevenly implemented in youth-serving settings, and insufficiently centered on the needs and goals of youth and their families. This study develops and pilot tests a written "practice companion" that helps clinicians and other trusted adults provide developmentally appropriate substance use care to youth ages 14 to 24 in hospital and community settings. The practice companion offers practical, easy-to-use guidance organized by substance and by pattern of use. It addresses cannabis and other substances that youth commonly use and that clinicians frequently seek support with, alongside a strong focus on overdose prevention through its core elements: naloxone, other safety strategies, overdose prevention and safety education, and medications for opioid use disorder. It also attends to co-occurring mental health needs and to how poverty, housing instability, and other social circumstances shape substance use and access to care. The research team will first interview youth who use substances, their families and caregivers, and clinicians to learn how each element of care should be adapted for young people. The team will then produce the practice companion and pilot test it with 60 youth across three sites, in British Columbia, Québec, and Massachusetts. After receiving care guided by the practice companion, youth will complete an interview about whether the care was relevant, useful, appropriate, and acceptable. Families and clinicians will also be interviewed to assess how feasible, sustainable, and faithful to its design the practice companion is in practice. Throughout the study, the team will work closely with youth and families who have lived experience through a community-based participatory research approach that includes Community Advisory Boards. Findings will guide a larger future study of the practice companion's effectiveness.

The goals of this sub-study is to assess CB1R availability in early abstinent individuals with OUD (following opioid agonist therapy - OAT stabilization) and in matched healthy controls.

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the safety and to see if there are any side effects of the investigational drug, MCAM. The main aim is to measure blood levels of the study drug after oral administration. Researchers will compare the active study drug to a placebo to test for any differences between the two groups. Participants will be screened for up to 28 days before starting study treatment. Following the screening visit, participants will be admitted to a clinic for 4 days for treatment with either the study drug or placebo. They will attend a follow-up visit on Days 5 and 7 and participate in a follow-up phone call on Day 8. Three different doses will be tested to find the highest safe dose.

Opioid overdose deaths have reached historically high records in the United States and are particularly concentrated among patients after emergency department (ED) discharge. Evidence-based treatment modules to reduce repeat opioid overdose and mortality are lacking in this patient population. A bundled intervention is proposed, including telehealth, peer support specialist, buprenorphine, and linkage for definitive care, that is designed to increase treatment uptake in this patient population post-ED discharge, reduce repeat opioid overdoses, and end overdose deaths.

This study is testing whether offering buprenorphine treatment directly at syringe service programs (SSPs) helps more people start and stay in treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) than referring them to community buprenorphine treatment providers. Buprenorphine is a medication that helps reduce opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms. The study compares two ways of connecting people to treatment: Referral to a community treatment provider (usual care before the new program begins). Onsite, low-threshold buprenorphine treatment at the SSP, which allows participants to start medication quickly and without having to establish care at another provider. Participants will be adults who have opioid use disorder and are SSP clients. Each SSP will begin offering the new onsite buprenorphine program at different times during the study. Researchers will collect information before and after the new program begins to see how it affects treatment engagement and health outcomes. The study will also examine how easy or difficult it is for SSPs to start and run the new program, how acceptable it is to staff and participants, and whether it is cost-effective. The overall goal is to find better ways to expand access to life-saving opioid treatment in community-based settings.

The goal of this observational study is to learn whether the Compl-AI model can accurately predict who is likely to stop their medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) early in adults receiving real-world treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). The main questions it aims to answer is: can the model accurately predict early discontinuation of MOUD? Because this study has no comparison groups, all participants receive their usual MOUD as part of routine care. Researchers will observe how participants engage with treatment and how well Compl-AI predicts their outcomes. Participants will complete 4 visits, including a questionnaire about personal experiences during first visit and questions about their substance use and treatment history. During the monthly study visits, the researchers will record in particular the attendance at MOUD medication visits, the medication adherence and any treatment discontinuation.

Buprenorphine, a medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), is associated with decreased opioid overdose and all-cause mortality. Treatment outcomes improve if patients remain on MOUD for at least six months, a period recommended by expert guidelines, although most studies report retention on MOUD of 50-65% at 3-6 months. Psychosocial interventions have the potential to improve MOUD treatment retention particularly when applied in combination in efficient delivery systems. The objective of this study is to develop an effective and efficient multicomponent intervention to increase buprenorphine retention at 6 months through an optimization trial.

This study aims to improve retention in buprenorphine treatment, a medication used for opioid use disorder, through the use of a smartphone-delivered recovery support intervention. The intervention involves an Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA), a virtual, animated computer agent designed to simulate natural face-to-face conversations. ECAs have been shown to help individuals manage their healthcare in other settings, and this study seeks to evaluate their potential in supporting patients on medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

People receiving buprenorphine-naloxone (bup-nx) for opioid use disorder often face changes in cravings, withdrawal, and return to use risk between clinic visits, but their care team may not know about these changes until the person misses an appointment or returns to drug use. Measurement-based care (MBC) uses brief, repeated check-ins from patients to make these between-visit changes visible. This study tests "Bup-MBC," a strategy that sends patients short questionnaires through their patient portal or by text before and between visits, gives them immediate supportive feedback, shares summary information with their prescriber in the electronic health record, and offers an option to request earlier contact if concerns arise. The study will include providers and patients at outpatient addiction clinics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, randomly assigned to either receive Bup-MBC or usual care, and followed for 6 months. The main goal is to determine whether Bup-MBC can be practically delivered in routine addiction clinics and whether patients and providers use it.

The 2022 Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clinical practice guideline for prescribing opioids for pain recommends that when tapering a patient's opioid dose, doses should be decreased at a slow rate to reduce the risk of withdrawal symptoms, overdose, and to promote tolerance of the tapering. This project will examine the state of tapering in primary care across the system as well as conduct stakeholder interviews to understand the resources available across the system to support providers in tapering and identify opportunities for clinical decision support to be implemented to support guideline concordant tapering. Utilization of a clinical care pathway that gives providers information, recommendations, and educational material on strategies for opioid tapering will be examined. The rate of opioid tapering in line with CDC guidelines will be examined as well as long term patient outcomes of opioid overdose of poisoning using existing patient health records. The study period will be approximately 8 months.

The primary objective of this trial is to measure changes in physiologic signals to quantify the status of the autonomic nervous system during opioid withdrawal and cravings.

This study is to develop and test a medical health application based on cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and augmented with other evidence-based sleep interventions that address common sleep-related problems in opioid use disorder. An initial program will be built utilizing input from persons beginning medications for opioid use disorders.

This study will examine the safety and efficacy of the O'Neil Long Acting Naltrexone Implant (OLANI) in persons with opioid dependency who are seeking relapse-prevention treatment. All participants will be treated in an open label manner. No randomization will occur. The OLANI is a long-acting biodegradable form of naltrexone which is implanted in the abdominal region. It is hypothesized that the OLANI will produce blood levels sufficient to block the effects of opioids for an extended period allowing patients to engage in psychosocial treatment and recovery over the long term. After the initial set of implants, participants will be offered 3 sets of single implants 13 weeks, each with an acceptable window of 12-16 weeks after the previous dose.

This study will compare transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with sham TMS in people with opioid use disorder who are taking buprenorphine and have major depressive disorder with ongoing depressive symptoms. The study will evaluate whether TMS improves depressive symptoms and reduces opioid craving. The study will also assess smoking behaviors, treatment acceptability, and any side effects related to TMS.

This is a multi-centre, open-label RCT at four Emergency Departments (EDs) in British Columbia and Alberta. The purpose of the current study is to compare the effectiveness of buprenorphine/naloxone microdosing and standard dosing take-home induction regimens at enabling patients to successfully complete the induction regimen, and at retaining patients on opioid agonist therapy. We will randomize our enrolled patients to receive take-home microdosing or standard dosing packages of buprenorphine/naloxone. For the microdosing arm, patients immediately start taking low doses that increase to effective levels without requiring them to go into withdrawal. We hypothesize that ED patients provided buprenorphine/naloxone microdosing packages will be more likely to successfully complete the induction period compare to patients provided standard dosing packages. We furthermore hypothesize that those provided microdosing will be more likely to be retained in opioid agonist therapy, and will experience lower overdose, mortality, and healthcare utilization subsequent to their ED visit.

This trial will assess effects of enrollment in a comprehensive telehealth platform, RecoveryPad (RP), in adults with moderate or severe opioid use disorder.

Chronic pain is common in individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and the first-line treatment, Medication for OUD (MOUD), does not address the considerable functional impairments associated with chronic pain. Veterans with OUD and chronic pain could benefit from integrated, behavioral treatment for chronic pain and addiction, but VHA MOUD clinics often lack the resources to offer these services. The proposed study will examine the effectiveness of an evidence-based digital chronic pain and addiction treatment that Veterans can do from home, which can provide a flexible option for Veterans to engage in treatment from home and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) a means to provide care without placing trained clinicians at each facility.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of clinical decision support (CDS) in the form of an alert to identify patients who may be at risk of opioid use disorder (OUD) and a clinical care pathway helping providers treating patients with opioid use disorder. The pathway provides health care providers with information and suggestions for screening and treatment of opioid use disorder, including treatment with medications. The 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clinical practice guideline for prescribing opioids for pain recommends providers asses for and treat opioid use disorder using approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). This project will implement a passive CDS alert when a provider prescribes an opioid to a patient who may be at risk of opioid use disorder. Providers will also have link access to a clinical care pathway providing support for OUD screening and treatment. Before and after comparisons of buprenorphine (a medication used to treat opioid use disorder) prescribing by providers and outcomes of patients will be examined based on medical records data collected during routine care. The study period will be approximately 18 months.

The purpose of the study is to develop an acceptable, feasible, and effective peer-led bundle of health resilience and promotion services to be delivered in the hospital setting, called the THRIVE intervention. The main question it aims to answer is: Will participants receiving the THRIVE intervention have a reduced risk of self-reported non-fatal overdoses OR skin/soft tissue infections compared to participants receiving enhanced usual care? Researchers will compare the THRIVE model to enhanced usual care to see if the THRIVE model helps participants reduce their number of self-reported non-fatal overdoses OR skin/soft tissue infections. Intervention participants will: * Receive one in-person session from a peer support specialist while in the hospital * Receive weekly text messages from the peer support specialist for a 12-week period * Receive monthly, multiple-choice assessments via text message at Month 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 * Complete a baseline, 3-month, and 6-month assessment with Research Assistants Enhanced usual care participants will: * Receive a handout with health resilience education and resources in their local area * Receive monthly, multiple-choice assessments via text message at Month 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 * Complete a baseline, 3-month, and 6-month assessment with Research Assistants

This study is examining the use of Tezampanel (TZP) for treatment of Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (OWS) in participants with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Participants will receive TZP or placebo (PBO) daily on Days 2 - 7 during a 7-day inpatient stay at the research center to determine safety, pharmacokinetic (PK) assessment, and efficacy of TZP for OWS.

This project continues our work with women in the Kentucky Women's Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network Phase II (WJCOIN-II) with the overall aim of reducing overdose risk during the transition from jail to rural communities. WJCOIN-II has potential for significant impact regarding the effectiveness, implementation, and sustainability of innovative overdose prevention strategies during the high-risk time of community re-entry among vulnerable, CLS-involved women in rural communities. This research will impact the field by increasing the capacity of the criminal legal system to respond to the overdose crisis through increased access to prevention strategies to reduce overdose risk.