Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Nov 3:7:42.
doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-7-42.

Effect of opium addiction on new and traditional cardiovascular risk factors: do duration of addiction and route of administration matter?

Sedigheh Asgary  1 , Nizal Sarrafzadegan, Gholam-Ali Naderi, Reza Rozbehani
Affiliations

Effect of opium addiction on new and traditional cardiovascular risk factors: do duration of addiction and route of administration matter?

Sedigheh Asgary et al. Lipids Health Dis. .

Abstract

Background: There is a belief among some society that opium has a number of beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present investigation as a cross-sectional study was to assess this hypothesis. Several biochemical factors (Fasting blood sugar, Cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDL-Cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, HbA1C, CRP, Fibrinogen, Factor VII, SGOT, SGPT, Lpa, apo A and apo B were evaluated in opium-addicted men (case) against non opium-addicted men(control). Three hundred and sixty opium-addicted men were divided into three groups according to the route of administration (Orally, Vafour and Sikh-Sang) and each group was divided into four subgroups according to the duration of addiction (5 months, 1 year, 2 years and 5 years). Blood morphine concentration was measured by ELISA method.

Results: The results show that morphine concentration was significantly higher in orally administration. In all routes, there was a direct correlation between blood morphine concentration and period of addiction. Regardless to the period and route of administration, the level of HbA1C, CRP, factor VII, Fibrinogen, apo B, Lpa, SGOT, and SGPT were significantly higher in the case subjects as compared with controls and HDL-Cholesterol and apo a were significantly lower in the case subjects.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the deleterious effects of opium on some traditional and new cardiovascular disease risk factors. These deleterious effects are related to the period of addiction and their levels are significantly increased after 2 years of addiction. Route of administration impresses cardiovascular risk factors and "Sikh-Sang" showed the worst effect.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relation between morphine concentration and duration of addiction in all the routes of administration (Orally, Vafour and Sikh-Sang).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Frick S, Kramell R, Kutchana TM. Metabolic engineering with a morphine biosynthetic P450 in opium poppy surpasses breeding. Metab Engineering. 2007;9:169–176. doi: 10.1016/j.ymben.2006.10.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bird DA, Franceschi VR, Facchini PJ. A Tale of Three Cell Types: Alkaloid biosynthesis Is localized to sieve elements in opium poppy. Plant Cell. 2003;15:2626–2635. doi: 10.1105/tpc.015396. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Karam G, Reisi M, Kaseb AA, Khaksari M, Mohammadi A, Mahmoodi M. Effects of opium addiction on some serum factors in addicts with non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus. Addic Biol. 2004;9:53–58. doi: 10.1080/13556210410001674095. - DOI - PubMed
    1. National Cholesterol Education Program(NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of high blood cholesterol in Adult. JAMA. 1993;269:3015–23. doi: 10.1001/jama.269.23.3015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Friedewald WT, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS. Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma, without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem. 1972;18:499–502. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms