Mohammad Hadi Nematollahi - ۱. Student Research Committee, Afzalipour Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran ۲. Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Mohammad Ali Ahmadianmoghadam - ۱. Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran ۲. Department of Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Persian Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Mehrnaz Mehrabani - Physiology Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Masoud Moghadari - Herbal and Traditional Medicines Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Adel Ghorani-Azam - Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, School of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
Mehrzad Mehrbani - Herbal and Traditional Medicines Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Background: Medicinal plants have revealed much attention as an alternative or complementary treatment for opioid withdrawal syndrome. The current review collects all available literature to verify the efficiency of herbal remedies in the management of symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal.Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted from January ۱۹۹۰ to May ۲۰۲۱ on four bibliographic databases (Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science) using the search terms “medicinal plant”, “withdrawal syndrome”, “opioid”, and all their equivalents. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs), published in the English language were included for data synthesis. The search was performed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to verify the quality of the included clinical trials.Findings: A total of ۱۲ RCTs were collected and used for data synthesis. The results of these studies indicated that herbal medicines were effective in treating opioid withdrawal syndrome and could alleviate the withdrawal symptoms, such as abdominal constrictions, diarrhea, bone pain, perspiration, and insomnia, when compared to conventional medications such as buprenorphine, clonidine, and methadone. However, more than ۳۰% of RCTs were found to be at high risk of bias in the areas of selection, performance, detection, attrition, and reporting.Conclusion: Although several RCTs have proven that herbal remedies are effective in reducing opioid withdrawal symptoms, the findings need to be viewed more carefully. Further RCTs with more participants, longer duration, and less risk of bias are needed in the claimed cases.

Opioid, Opium, Withdrawal syndrome, Herbal therapy