Knowing which genes make a person susceptible to opioid use disorder and whether a person has them could provide crucial knowledge to health care professionals and patients in need of pain management. Those predisposed to addiction could be given alternative treatments, while others could more confidently make use of opioid pain medication. The information also can help children and other family members of someone afflicted with substance use disorder understand their own risk.
The specific goals of the study are to:
- Determine which genetic markers are associated with the development of opioid use disorder.
- Develop an Addiction Risk Score to better classify patient likelihood for future addiction.
- Determine the prevalence of genetic markers associated with addiction risk in the general population.
The study will recruit 1,200 to 1,500 patients in the emergency departments at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. Patients will be asked about factors associated with opioid use disorder, including details of previous opioid exposure, current opioid use and other health history. The research team will collect a cheek swab from each patient for DNA testing to determine the presence of 180 genetic markers suspected to be associated with opioid use disorder. Samples from those with opioid use disorder will be compared to those without opioid use disorder, helping researchers identify the key genetic markers.
The study will be led by two SCOPE members:
- Dr. Jon Sprague, director of science and research for the Attorney General’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Eminent Scholar at Bowling Green State University
- Dr. Caroline Freiermuth, associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Cincinnati
The genetic research team consists of scientists from The Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati and the Attorney General’s Office. Genemarkers, a leader in genomic research based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will contribute genetic analysis, and InXite, of Columbus, will provide advanced machine learning algorithm processing.
More than 100 emergency room patients have been recruited at the University of Cincinnati. Recruitment of patients is also underway in two locations at Ohio State University.