The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 06, 1993
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1991
Edythe D London, Baltimore, MD (US);
Alane S Kimes, Perry Hall, MD (US);
Abstract
A method of attenuating the symptoms of opioid withdrawal in a human or animal subject comprises administering to the subject an effective opioid withdrawal symptom attenuating amount of an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) for a period of time effective to attenuate such symptoms upon opioid withdrawal. NOS inhibitors useful in the present method include, for example, L-N.sup.G -nitroarginine, esters of L-N.sup.G -nitroarginine, L-N.sup.G -monomethylarginine, L-N.sup.G -benzylarginine, L-N.sup.G -aminoarginine, iminoethylornithine, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. These compounds can be used alone or in combination, in conjunction with conventional drugs, such as .alpha..sub.2 -adrenoceptor agonists, mixed agonist-antagonist opioids, and NMDA antagonists, to attenuate the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Effective doses of NOS inhibitors range from about 1 .mu.g/kg/day to about 30 mg/kg/day, administered over the course of about 1 hour to about six days, followed by opioid withdrawal.