ArticleeNeuro
Heroin Contaminated with Fentanyl Dramatically Enhances Brain Hypoxia and Induces Brain Hypothermia.
Article in eNeuro. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurocognitive impairments and brain abnormalities resulting from opioid-related overdoses: A systematic review.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Pooled it
- Early axonal injury in fentanyl intoxication.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2026Article
- Effect of Overdose-Induced Hypoxia on Neurocognitive Performance in Individuals With Opioid Dependence: A Prospective Multicenter Study.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- Economic and epidemiological burden of medical complications of unregulated drug use among people who inject drugs in Québec.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Effects of Intravenous Bolus Injection of Fentanyl on Phrenic Nerve Activity and Its Response to Hypoxia and Hypercapnia.Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology research · 2026Article
- Cardiorespiratory failure and sudden death induced by carfentanil exposure: Involvement of central mu1 opioid receptors.Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 2025Article
- Comparison of fentanyl-induced brain oxygen responses following intravenous and intraperitoneal injections in rats.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- The development of opioid vaccines as a novel strategy for the treatment of opioid use disorder and overdose prevention.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Hypoxic effects of heroin and fentanyl and their basic physiological mechanisms.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2024Review
- Comparison of theThe Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2024Article
- Rapid Separation and Detection of Drugs in Complex Biological Matrix Using TD-CDI Mass Spectrometer.Biosensors · 2024Article
- The pattern of brain oxygen response induced by intravenous fentanyl limits the time window of therapeutic efficacy of naloxone.Neuropharmacology · 2023Article
- Review
- Electroanalysis of Fentanyl and Its New Analogs: A Review.Biosensors · 2022Review
- Bivalent Conjugate Vaccine Induces Dual Immunogenic Response That Attenuates Heroin and Fentanyl Effects in Mice.Bioconjugate chemistry · 2021Article
- A vapor exposure method for delivering heroin alters nociception, body temperature and spontaneous activity in female and male rats.Journal of neuroscience methods · 2021Article
- Article
- The rising crisis of illicit fentanyl use, overdose, and potential therapeutic strategies.Translational psychiatry · 2019Review
- Noradrenergic Mechanisms in Fentanyl-Mediated Rapid Death Explain Failure of Naloxone in the Opioid Crisis.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2019Review
- Interactions of benzodiazepines with heroin: Respiratory depression, temperature effects, and behavior.Neuropharmacology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
While opioid abuse is an established medical and public health issue, the increased availability of highly potent synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, has given rise to acute health complications, including a comatose state and death during drug overdose. Since respiratory depression that leads to acute hypoxia is the most dangerous complication of opioid drug use, we examined the effects of intravenous heroin and heroin contaminated with 10% fentanyl on oxygen levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) monitored using high-speed amperometry in freely moving rats. Additionally, we examined the effects of heroin, fentanyl, and their mixture on locomotion and temperatures in the NAc, temporal muscle, and skin. Both fentanyl and heroin at human-relevant doses (400 and 40 μg/kg, respectively) induced rapid, strong and transient decreases in NAc oxygen, indicative of brain hypoxia. When the heroin-fentanyl mixture was injected, the NAc hypoxic response was greatly potentiated in its duration, suggesting sustained hypoxia. In contrast to modest, monophasic brain temperature increases caused by heroin alone, the heroin-fentanyl mixture induced a biphasic temperature response, with a prominent postinjection decrease resulting from peripheral vasodilation. This hypothermic effect, albeit much smaller and more transient, was typical of fentanyl injected alone. Our findings indicate that accidental use of fentanyl instead of heroin, or even a relatively minor contamination of "street heroin" with fentanyl, poses great danger for acute health complications, including a comatose state and death.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.