Buprenorphine and other opioids

Question

Explain why is buprenorphine less addictive in comparison to other opioids (such as fentanyl) - is it explainable through its strength of binding to the common receptor, or?

Answer 1

Buprenorphine is referred to as the partial agonist – that is, it binds to the receptor however even at its maximum may not provide as much of an effect as the full agonist (like morphine) - it is, therefore, also the partial antagonist (partially hampers the actions of the full agonists).

As addiction is likely to be linked to the strength of effect of the drug, buprenorphine has less effect and, thus, less addiction.