Abstract
BACKGROUND: Today, methadone is widely used to control drug abuse. This has made this synthetic opioid widely available to the public, and its overdose has become one of the most common causes of poisoning. This study aimed to investigate changes in liver enzyme levels in patients who were referred and hospitalized due to acute methadone poisoning. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2023 to June 2024 on patients hospitalized with acute methadone poisoning in the poisoning department of Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad. Demographic and clinical information of the patients was recorded at the time of admission. Liver enzyme levels, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), were measured at the time of admission and before discharge. Finally, the data were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests using SPSS software. RESULTS: A total of 49 patients were studied in this study. The mean age of the patients was 24.65 years, and 34 (69.4%) of them were female. 26% of the patients had increased AST, and 22% had increased ALT. In 80% of cases, the increase in these two enzymes was less than three times the normal limit, and no significant increase was observed. ALP was also increased in 12.2% of the patients. In total, at least one liver enzyme was increased in 38.8% of the patients. No significant correlation was observed between the dose of methadone consumed and the levels of liver enzymes (AST, ALT, and ALP) (p > 0.05). In addition, the increased levels of enzymes returned to normal levels during hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Elevated liver enzymes are a common finding in patients with methadone intoxication; however, we were unable to demonstrate a correlation between the dose of methadone consumed and serum levels of liver enzymes.