Low-dose Buccal Buprenorphine: Relative Abuse Potential and Analgesia

The goal of this study is to compare the abuse potential of low-dose equianalgesic buccal buprenorphine to a commonly used full mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonist in a highly controlled experimental setting. This is a translational study in which healthy participants are phenotyped for psychosocial and Opioid-Use-Disorder-risk-related metrics. In a within-subjects crossover design, 60 participants will receive a standard postoperative oral oxycodone dose (10 mg), placebo, and 3 different doses of buccal buprenorphine across 5 separate sessions. Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) will be used to evaluate alterations in pain responsiveness relative to placebo across buprenorphine doses and oxycodone, and will compare abuse potential (indexed by the standard FDA drug liking metric) following equianalgesic doses of the two drugs.

NCT Number	NCT05988710
Lead Sponsor	Vanderbilt University Medical Center Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Conditions	Analgesia, Abuse Opioids, Pain
Enrollment	120 participants
Start Date	2023-10-19
Primary Completion	2028-01 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-02 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-01-12