Persistent vulnerability to heroin relapse after more than one year of abstinence in rats

Hot Off the Press – July 27, 2026

Published in Neuropsychopharmacology by Rajtarun Madangopal and Bruce Hope, et al. of the NIDA IRP Neuronal Ensembles in Drug Addiction Section.

Summary

This study used a rat model to test the persistence of relapse vulnerability during prolonged abstinence. Cues previously associated with intravenous heroin self-administration—such as cues signaling that the drug is available—continued to trigger relapse to drug-seeking behavior in rats even after more than a year without heroin. Cues signaling that heroin was unavailable had the opposite effect and continued to suppress drug-seeking behavior during abstinence. These results reinforce the importance of long-term recovery support and suggest that the risk of relapse may remain for a very long time after people stop using opioid drugs.

Publication Information

Madangopal, Rajtarun; Drake, Olivia R; Pham, Diana Q; Lennon, Veronica A; Weber, Sophia J; Lee, Justine; Sobukunola, Adekemi; Holmes, Ava R; Nurudeen, Omodolapo; Shaham, Yavin; Hope, Bruce T

Persistent vulnerability to heroin relapse after more than one year of abstinence in rats Journal Article

In: Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 51, no. 8, pp. 1519–1523, 2026, ISSN: 1740-634X.

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