{"id":26596,"date":"2025-06-17T00:08:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T18:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=26596"},"modified":"2025-06-17T00:08:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T18:23:27","slug":"new-opioid-testing-techniques-could-lead-to-better-therapies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/new-opioid-testing-techniques-could-lead-to-better-therapies\/","title":{"rendered":"New opioid testing techniques could lead to better therapies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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With an eye toward improving care, researchers have developed new automated lab procedures for detecting opioids in tiny amounts of blood. Credit: Tripathi Lab\/Brown University<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PROVIDENCE, R.I.\u00a0[BU]\u2014 As the opioid epidemic persists across the United States, a team of researchers from Brown University has developed new diagnostic techniques for detecting opioid compounds in adults with opioid use disorder and infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new techniques, described in two recently published research studies, could equip health care workers with powerful new tools for more effectively treating conditions related to opioid exposure, the researchers say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a study published in\u00a0Scientific Reports<\/a><\/em>, the researchers describe a method that can rapidly detect six different opioid compounds from a tiny amount of serum, no more than a finger prick. The second study, published in\u00a0SLAS Technology<\/a>, demonstrates a method for detecting opioids in dried blood spots, which are routinely collected from newborns nationwide. The technique could enable a first-of-its-kind quantitative method for assessing opioid exposure in newborns.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research was led by Ramisa Fariha, a postdoctoral research associate in molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry at Brown, who performed the work while completing her Ph.D. in Brown\u2019s School of Engineering. The work was a collaboration with Carolina Haass-Koffler, an associate professor at Brown\u2019s School of Public Health.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project is an example of what happens when translational engineering meets public health,\u201d said Anubhav Tripathi, a professor in Brown\u2019s School of Engineering who oversaw the work. \u201cDr. Haass-Koffler approached us with a challenge: How can we enable more reliable testing of opioid exposure? Ramisa was able to take up that challenge and develop something quite remarkable in the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fariha hopes the work will spur real-world application in opioid treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t about creating another lab tool,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was about reimagining what\u2019s possible at the point of care. We were responding to a void that was always there, and we wanted to address it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adults with opioid use disorder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work began with Haass-Koffler talking with members of the engineering team about the challenges in measuring the presence of opioid substances in people with opioid use disorder. Blood testing for opioids generally requires substantial quantities of blood, which can be difficult to get from frequent opioid users who may have collapsed veins or other conditions. Urine tests, on the other hand, frequently produce inaccurate results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working closely with John Murphy, a research engineer at Brown, Fariha developed a fully automated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS\/MS) assay to detect opioid compounds from microsamples, including serum or blood spots. They showed that the system is capable of accurately quantifying six different opioids\u2014including buprenorphine, methadone, codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, and oxycodone\u2014using a small sample of just 20 microliters (less than a single drop) of serum.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haass-Koffler then integrated the new diagnostic technique into an ongoing clinical trial. The trial, which assesses the use of oxytocin as a complement to opioid agonist therapy, leveraged the microsampling method to detect opioid use that traditional urine samples had missed. This enhanced detection capability provided critical insights, helping the research team demonstrate that administering oxytocin can be a valuable tool in reducing opioid use among people with opioid use disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detecting opioids in newborns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After developing a method for detecting opioids from small blood samples in adults, the researchers began thinking of other ways to apply it. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), in which babies are born with symptoms of opioid withdrawal, seemed like an obvious choice, they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opioid use among expectant mothers is alarmingly high in the U.S.\u2014one recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in five pregnant women self-reported opioid misuse. Diagnosis of opioid exposure in newborns is currently made by assessing a baby\u2019s symptoms and reviewing a mother\u2019s opioid use history. There is currently no standard blood test for opioids in infants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea behind this work was to come up with a diagnostic method that\u2019s more quantitative,\u201d Fariha said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solution was a device that could extract potential opioid samples from dried blood spots, which are routinely gathered shortly after birth from a small prick on a baby\u2019s heel. The device applies an electric field to a dried blood spot to draw up potential opioid compounds. Once the sample is prepared, it can be sent to a lab for analysis with a mass spectrometer, which is commonly used in neonatal testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research showed that the technique can successfully detect a range of opioid substances, including codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, methadone, and oxycodone. And the method is fully automated, making it easy to deploy at the clinical level, the researchers say.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fariha said she\u2019s hopeful that the technique can not only improve the diagnosis of NAS but also its treatment. If clinicians know precisely how much opioid is present, they could potentially make more informed decisions about whether medication is necessary and in what amounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt its core, this work is about more than automation,\u201d Fariha said. \u201cIt\u2019s about designing diagnostic tools that are precise, scalable, and better aligned with the needs of real-world patients, especially in maternal and infant health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers say both studies represent an effort to make diagnostics more useful, accessible, and patient-centered.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiagnostics shouldn\u2019t be locked inside centralized labs,\u201d Fariha said. \u201cI want to design systems that meet patients where they are\u2014whether that\u2019s a newborn in a NICU or a village clinic halfway around the world. As a Bangladeshi woman, I recognize the need for solutions with global translatability and impact, without requiring major infrastructural support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical data used in the Scientific Reports study were supported by a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the opioid epidemic persists across the United States, a team of researchers from Brown University has developed new diagnostic techniques for detecting opioid compounds in adults with opioid use disorder and infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation.webp",1400,877,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-200x200.webp",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-675x423.webp",675,423,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-768x481.webp",750,470,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-1100x689.webp",750,470,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation.webp",1400,877,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation.webp",1400,877,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-1200x800.webp",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-870x570.webp",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-600x877.webp",600,877,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-600x600.webp",600,600,true],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-760x490.webp",760,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-550x360.webp",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-95x65.webp",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-640x853.webp",640,853,true],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-96x96.webp",96,96,true],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Automation-150x94.webp",150,94,true]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Health<\/a>","tag_info":"Health","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26598,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26596\/revisions\/26598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}