Lack of cardiometabolic profile data based on severity of
opiate dependence for
opiate abusers. The study aimed to evaluate the effect severity of
opiate abuse on the cardiometabolic profile of male
opiate abusers without co-morbidities. The study included 30 healthy controls (HCs), 90 prospective chronic
opiate (
opium and
heroin) abusers, with and without co-dependence of smoking and tobacco-chewing. The subjects were categorized based on severity of
opiate dependence questionnaire (SODQ) and
metabolic syndrome (MS) based on NCEP
ATP-III criteria and fasting blood samples analyzed for
sugar,
insulin,
insulin resistance (IR),
lipid profile,
Hs-CRP and total
antioxidant capacity (TAC). There was higher prevalence of MS in
opiate abusers as compared to HCs. Majority of the patients fell in grade 2 and 3 of severity. There was significant difference across groups for WHR (p < 0.001), SBP (p < 0.03), FBS (p < 0.001),
insulin (p < 0.02), IR (p < 0.03) and TAC (p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis of SODQ grades 2 and 3 independently predicted TAC by
Hs-CRP (p = 0.032 and 0.042). There was a significant correlation of TAC with serum
insulin, IR and
Hs-CRP in SODQ grade 2 and serum
insulin and
Hs-CRP in SODQ grade 3. Chronic
opiate abuse is not benign and predisposes abusers to cardiometabolic risk with increasing severity of dependence, owing to oxidative stress and chronic low-grade
inflammation.