A Review Study on the Effect of Iranian Herbal Medicines on Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome

Addiction is a chronic and recurring disease that recurrence phenomenon is the most important challenge in treatment of this
disease. Recent experiences have shown that synthetic drugs have undesirable side effects. Recent studies on medicinal plants
have shown that they might be effective in treatment of different stages of addiction with lower side effects and costs. The aim of
this study was to review the effects of medicinal plants in the treatment of morphine addiction in experimental animals. In this
review article, by using keywords of morphine, withdrawal, and plants or herbal medicine in databases of indexing cites, desired
articles were obtained since 1994. Inclusion criteria for selecting articles were the articles related to application of medicinal
plants in decreasing symptoms resulting from morphine withdrawal were selected. Results of this study on experimental studies
have shown that medicinal plants such as Trachyspermum copticum L and Melissa officinalis decrease the symptoms of withdrawal
syndrome in a dose-dependent. Also, medicinal plants like Avena sativa, Hypericum perforatu, Passiflora incarnate, Valeriana officinalis,
Satureja hortensis L, and Mentha piperita can have effects on behavior, emotions, and other problems of addicts, decreasing
withdrawal symptoms. Results of this study showed that medicinal plants can be effective in controlling deprivation, decreasing
dependency creation, and possibly detoxification of opioid addicts.