Peking University, October 25, 2022: A research group at Peking University Sixth Hospital has developed and validated a new strategy to treat opioid use disorder (OUD), a severe global health issue that causes disability, death and transmission of infectious diseases. The new strategy uses methadone-initiated memory reconsolidation updating procedure (MMRUP) as opposed to MRUP initiated by abused drugs. The article (YueJL et al., The effect of a methadone-initiated memory reconsolidation updating procedure in opioid use disorder: A translational study. eBioMedicine2022;85:104283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104283) was published online September 22 in eBioMedicine.
 

The new strategy was based on a series of studies conducted by the same research group led by Prof. Lu Lin. Previously, the group had proposed memory reconstruction interventions triggered by conditioned and unconditioned stimulus, which could decrease craving and reduce relapse risk by erasing drug-associated memories in human and animal studies. These studies had been published in Science in 2012, Nature Communications in 2015 and JAMA Psychiatry in 2017.

Written by: Fan Xiaofei
Edited by: Meng Bin
Source: Peking University Sixth Hospital
Cover photo: Unsplash.com