BACKGROUND: @entity34318 (known as LAAM) is a mu-opioid agonist approved for the treatment of @entity4784 . Clinical trials comparing LAAM and @entity284 have reported lower @entity1 retention rates during LAAM induction; however, this may reflect dose and schedule differences. Few studies have systematically examined LAAM dose induction. This study compared induction with 3 different @entity34318 dosage levels. METHODS: In a randomized, double-blind trial, male and female opioid-dependent @entity1 (N = 180) were assigned to 1 of 3 LAAM doses. The low-dose (25 mg) induction was constant from the onset of treatment, the medium-dose (50 mg) induction lasted 7 days, and the high-dose (100 mg) induction lasted 17 days. Safety and efficacy were assessed on retention, urinalysis and self-reported drug use, symptoms, and @entity1 ratings of medication adequacy. RESULTS: The high-dose group had significantly fewer illicit opioid-positive urine samples in weeks 3 and 4 as compared with the low-dose group. The high-dose group had significantly lower self-reported heroin craving in weeks 2 and 3. All groups demonstrated significant decreases in illicit drug use, withdrawal symptoms, and @entity308 . There were no between-group differences in retention; however, there was a trend (P = .08) for lower retention and a greater number of agonist adverse effects were observed in the high-dose group. Overall, LAAM doses were well tolerated by most @entity1 . CONCLUSION: Induction with low and medium LAAM doses can be safely and effectively achieved within 7 days. Induction with higher LAAM doses can be safely achieved within 17 days, but may result in greater rates of @entity1 dropout and opioid agonist adverse effects. Therefore, higher doses should be approached more slowly.

Induction with XXXX : safety and efficacy.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity308 :: ('MESH:D003866', 'Disease') :: ['depression'] @entity34318 :: ('MESH:D008692', 'Chemical') :: ['LAAM', 'Levomethadyl acetate hydrochloride'] @entity4784 :: ('MESH:D009293', 'Disease') :: ['opioid dependence'] @entity284 :: ('MESH:D008691', 'Chemical') :: ['methadone']
@entity34318 :: (MESH:D008692,Chemical) :: ['levomethadyl acetate']
