Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the acute effect of intravenous heroin administration on visual activation in long-term heroin addicts: results from a feasibility study.

This preliminary report is the first demonstration of the acute effects of diacetylmorphine (heroin) administration on functional activation in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Four opiate addicts who received regular prescriptions for heroin, underwent fMRI using a visual activation paradigm before and after a dose of 30 mg heroin. All four showed a decrease after the heroin dose in the extent of significant activation. This method shows promise for sequential scanning to determine brain activity in response to different drugs and routes of drug administration.

[1]  A. Herz,et al.  Opiate receptor binding sites in human brain , 1982, Brain Research.

[2]  J. Levin,et al.  Gender differences in cerebral perfusion in cocaine abuse: technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT study of drug-abusing women. , 1994, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[3]  W R Martin,et al.  Pharmacology of opioids. , 1983, Pharmacological reviews.

[4]  J M Links,et al.  Morphine-induced metabolic changes in human brain. Studies with positron emission tomography and [fluorine 18]fluorodeoxyglucose. , 1990, Archives of general psychiatry.

[5]  E. London,et al.  Differential effects of μ and κ opioid analgesics on cerebral glucose utilization in the rat , 1987, Brain Research.

[6]  E. Bullmore,et al.  Statistical methods of estimation and inference for functional MR image analysis , 1996, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[7]  D. Duthie,et al.  Adverse effects of opioid analgesic drugs. , 1987, British journal of anaesthesia.

[8]  Jens Frahm,et al.  The Effect of Acetazolamide on Regional Cerebral Blood Oxygenation at Rest and under Stimulation as Assessed by MRI , 1994, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[9]  William H. Press,et al.  Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN - The Art of Scientific Computing, 2nd Edition , 1987 .

[10]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Movement‐Related effects in fMRI time‐series , 1996, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[11]  K. Preston,et al.  Buprenorphine Reduces Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Polydrug Abusers , 1994, Neuropsychopharmacology.

[12]  S. Woods,et al.  Regional cerebral blood flow imaging with SPECT in psychiatric disease: focus on schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse. , 1992, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[13]  A. Korczyn,et al.  The pupillary effects of opioids. , 1983, Life sciences.

[14]  R. Wise,et al.  A psychomotor stimulant theory of addiction. , 1987, Psychological review.

[15]  A. Bill,et al.  Regional cerebral, ocular and peripheral vascular effects of naloxone and morphine in unanesthetized rabbits. , 1983, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[16]  D. Tank,et al.  Brain magnetic resonance imaging with contrast dependent on blood oxygenation. , 1990, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  Sustained activation in visual cortex using EPI and FLASH fMRI , 1996, NeuroImage.

[18]  William H. Press,et al.  The Art of Scientific Computing Second Edition , 1998 .

[19]  E. Bullmore,et al.  Functional echoplanar brain imaging correlates of amphetamine administration to normal subjects and subjects with the narcoleptic syndrome. , 1996, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[20]  E. Stein,et al.  Effect of intravenous heroin and naloxone on regional cerebral blood flow in the conscious rat , 1987, Brain Research.