Objective Assess whether patients with chronic pain receiving 80 to 220 mg oral morphine sulfate equivalent of a full μ-opioid agonist could be transitioned to buccal buprenorphine at approximately 50% of their full dose without inducing opioid withdrawal or sacrificing analgesic efficacy.Methods. A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, two-period crossover study in adult patients receiving around-the-clock full opioid agonist therapy and confirmed to be opioid dependent by naloxone challenge. Study doses were substituted at the time of the regular dose schedule for each patient. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with a maximum Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale score ≥ 13 (moderate withdrawal) or use of rescue medication.Results. 35 subjects on ≥ 80 mg morphine sulfate equivalent per day were evaluable for opioid withdrawal. One patient during buccal buprenorphine treatment and two during 50% full μ-opioid agonist treatment experienced opioid withdrawal of at least moderate intensity. The mean maximum Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale scores were similar, and numerically lower on buccal buprenorphine. There were no significant differences in pain ratings between treatments. The most frequent adverse events with buccal buprenorphine were headache (19%), vomiting (13%), nausea, diarrhea, and drug withdrawal syndrome (each 9%), and with full μ-opioid agonist were headache (16%), drug withdrawal syndrome (13%), and nausea (6%).Conclusions. Chronic pain patients treated with around-the-clock full μ-opioid agonist therapy can be switched to buccal buprenorphine (a partial μ-opioid agonist) at approximately 50% of the full μ-opioid agonist dose without an increased risk of opioid withdrawal or loss of pain control.
GS-9620 was safe, well-tolerated and biologically active in patients with HCV infection. Induction of ISG15 occurred in the absence of detectable serum interferon-α or systemic AEs in most patients, supporting a pre-systemic mechanism of action. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01591668.
After demonstration of the antihypertensive efficacy of the combination of the beta-blocker nebivolol and the angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan in an 8-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (N = 4161), we now report the effects of this treatment on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in a substudy (n = 805). Plasma renin activity increased with valsartan (54%-73%) and decreased with nebivolol (51%-65%) and the combination treatment (17%-39%). Plasma aldosterone decreased with individual treatments (valsartan, 11%-22%; nebivolol, 20%-26%), with the largest reduction (35%) observed with maximum combination dose (20 mg nebivolol/320 mg valsartan). Baseline ln(plasma renin activity) correlated with the 8-week reductions in 24-hour systolic and diastolic BP following treatments with the combination (all doses combined, P = .003 and P < .001) and nebivolol (both, P < .001), but not with valsartan. Baseline ln(aldosterone) correlated with 24-hour systolic and diastolic BP reductions following combination treatment only (P < .001 and P = .005). The implications of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system effects of this beta blocker-angiotensin receptor blocker combination should be explored further.
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