Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Over the last decade we have seen a sharp rise in opioid abuse, addiction, and overdose deaths in the United States [ 1 ]. As this epidemic continues to worsen, the need for additional effective pharmacotherapeutics to complement opioid maintenance therapy becomes increasingly important. One of the major focuses of preclinical addiction work has been to identify and develop therapeutic drugs to treat substance use disorders; however, most of this work has been conducted in male subjects, potentially neglecting issues specific to female subjects. For example, opioids can have differential effects between sexes with men showing higher rates of opioid abuse [ 2 ], whereas women experience more of the negative side effects associated with opioid use [ 3 ]. While it is tempting to conclude from the epidemiological data that men are more vulnerable to opioid abuse, it is important to understand that sex is not a behavioral determinant on its own. Rather, sex interacts with environmental conditions and stimuli to produce sex-specific effects in certain contexts. Understanding the neurobiology of sex differences will require holistic behavioral models that capture the complexity of sex by environment interactions underlying sex-specific behaviors.
Source: Neuropsychopharmacology
Author: Cody A. Siciliano
Institutions: Vanderbilt University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Topic: Sex and Gender in Healthcare
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,760
OpenAlex ID: W2948340185