Studies and Clinical Trials Evidence The Sinclair Method

Studies and Clinical Trials Evidence

Studies and Clinical Trials Evidence: Results with Naltrexone and Nalmefene

Up to 27th January 2011

For the definitive definition of The Sinclair Method, please go to ‘What is the Sinclair Method?‘

Studies and Clinical Trials Evidence for The Sinclair Method

Notes underlined represent evidence that naltrexone and nalmefene are safe and produce significant benefits when extinction is possible (n=88; 64 with alcoholism). The notes are in chronological order with the most recent trials at the end of the list.

Notes in italics indicate evidence that naltrexone and nalmefene are not effective when extinction is not possible (e.g. during abstinence) (n=39; 37 with alcohol).  

Notes in bold are from reviews or meta-analyses, all of which conclude naltrexone is effective (n=18).

Long-lasting implant/injection studies are evaluated only as to whether the treatment was effective because the antagonist was always present.

When the same trial has been published in several abstracts and articles, they are all listed under the same number, separated by the ¶ symbol.

SUMMARY: WHEN EXTINCTION WAS POSSIBILE, 87 OUT OF 88 CLINICAL TRIALS FOUND SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS FROM THE OPIOID ANTAGONIST.  WHEN EXTINCTION WAS NOT POSSIBLE, 39 OUT OF THE 40 TRIALS FOUND NO SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS FROM THE OPIOID ANTAGONIST.

 

  1. Renault, P. F. (1978) Treatment of heroin-dependent persons with antagonists: Current status. Bulletin on Narcotics 30: 21-29 ¶ Renault, P. F. (1980) Treatment of heroin‑dependent persons with antagonists: Current status. In:  Naltrexone: Research Monograph 28, Willett, R. E., and Barnett, G., (eds.), Washington, DC: National Institute of Drug Abuse, 11‑22. First clinical trial of naltrexone and only controlled trial for opiate addiction. Large double-blind placebo-controlled (DBPC) trial (n=197) plus 1005 open-label patients. Naltrexone was effective but only in patients who disobeyed instructions not to use opiates while on medication. Not effective with abstinence. It was concluded that Naltrexone works by extinction.  Basis for FDA acceptance of Naltrexone for opiate addiction.
  2. Volpicelli, J. R., O’Brien, C. P., Alterman, A. I., and Hayashida, M. (1990) Naltrexone and the treatment of alcohol dependence: Initial observations. In: Reid, L. D., (ed.) Opioids, bulimia, and alcohol abuse & alcoholism.  New York: Springer‑Verlag, 1990; 195‑214. ¶ Volpicelli, J. R., Alterman, A. I., Hayashida, M, and O’Brien, C. P. (1992). Naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Archives of General Psychiatry 49: 876‑880. First DBPC clinical trial for alcoholism.  Naltrexone was safe and effective, with the primary effects being found in patients drinking while on medication, as required by extinction. No significant benefits before first drink on Naltrexone.
  3. O’Malley, S., Jaffe, A., Chang, G., Witte, G., Schottenfeld, R.S., and Rounsaville, B.J. Naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence. (1990) In: Reid, L.D., (ed.) Opioids, bulimia, and alcohol abuse & alcoholism.  New York: Springer‑Verlag; pp 149‑157 ¶ O’Malley, S.S., Jaffe, A.J., Chang, G., Schottenfeld, R.S., Meyer, R.E., and Rounsaville, B. (1992). Naltrexone and coping skills therapy for alcohol dependence. Archives of General Psychiatry 49: 881‑887. The other DBPC trial in addition to Volpicelli used for FDA approval of Naltrexone for alcoholism.  Naltrexone was safe and effective in “Coping” groups inadvertently encouraged to break abstinence, but there were no significant benefits in “Supportive” groups with instructions to abstain. No significant benefits before first drink on naltrexone. Significant interactions indicating naltrexone is better with Coping than Supportive therapy.
  4. Mason, B.J., Ritvo, E.C., Salvato, F., Zimmer, E. Goldberg, G., and Welch, B (1993).  Nalmefene modification of alcohol dependence: A pilot study.  Proceedings of American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, San Fransisco, CA, May 1993, p. 170, abstract NR442 ¶ Mason, B.J., Ritvo, E.C., Salvato, F.R., Goldberg, G. (1994)  Preliminary dose finding for nalmefene treatment of alcoholism.  Alcohol Clin Exp Res 18: P. 464 (abstract 270) ¶ Mason, B.J., Ritvo, E.C., Morgan, R.O., Salvato, F.R., Goldberg, G., Welch, B., and Mantero-Atienza, E. (1994) A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral nalmefene HCL for alcohol dependence.  Alocoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 18: 1162-1167.  Small DBPC trial showing nalmefene (similar to naltrexone) is safe and effective in treating alcoholism.  No significant benefits before the first drink on nalmefene; the article says this finding confirms Sinclair’s hypothesis that the medication is working through extinction.
  5. Bohn, M.J. and Kranzler, H.R. (1993) Randomized trial of safety and efficacy of 25 vs 50 mg naltrexone and brief counseling to reduce heavy drinking.  Proceedings of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) meeting, June 19-24, Miami, FL. ¶ Bohn, M.J., Kranzler, H.R., Beazoglou, D., and Staehler, B.A. (1994) Naltrexone and brief counseling to reduce heavy drinking. The American Journal on Addictions 3: 91‑99. Naltrexone was safe and effective in open label study for reducing drinking and craving when used without detoxification and with instructions not to abstain but to try to cut down drinking.  Protocol similar to that used by Sinclair in preclinical studies and in the Sinclair Method. “Several subjects reported subjective alterations in desire for carbohydrated-rich foodstuffs and sex.”
  6. Agosti, V. (1994) The efficacy of controlled trials of alcohol misuse treatments in maintaining abstinence. International Journal of Addictions 29: 759‑769, ¶ Agosti, V. (1995) The efficacy of treatment in reducing alcohol consumption: A meta‑analysis. International Journal of Addictions 30: 1067‑1077, 1995. Meta-analyses of all alcoholism treatment methods for which control data were provided.  Concluded that the best method was naltrexone combined with a Coping with drinking protocol.
  7. Sinclair, J.D. (1995) The story in Finland behind the new naltrexone treatment for alcoholism (and how I got the patent for it). Life and Education In Finland 3/95: 2‑16.  Popular review concluding naltrexone is safe and effective.
  8. Agosti V. (1995) The efficacy of treatment in reducing alcohol consumption: A meta‑analysis. International J Addictions 30: 1067‑1077. Naltrexone with Coping with drinking is effective and safe.
  9. World Health Organization (1996) Programme on Substance Abuse, Pharmacological Treatment of substance use disorders: International issues in medications development. WHO/PSA/96.10 General review concluding: “One medication, Naltrexone, has been identified as a safe and effective treatment for alcohol dependence.” (pp. 24).
  10. Mason, B. (1996) Dosing issues in the pharmacotherapy of alcoholism. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 20: 10A-16A. Small study showing doses of 20 mg and 80 mg of nalmefene are well tolerated, concluding that 80 mg was the optimal dose 100% completing trial and 62 % having a stable response (no more than 2 heavy drinking days (>4 drinks for men, >3 drinks for women).
  11. Monti, P.M., Rohsenow, D.J., Swift, R.M., Abrams, D.B., Colby, S.M., Mueller, T.I., Brown, R.A., and Gordon, A. (1996) Effects of naltrexone on urge to drink during alcohol cue exposure: preliminary results. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 20: Supplement,  92A,  After seeing their own usual alcoholic beverage, naltrexone patients had significantly smaller urge to drink than did placebo patients.
  12. Anton, R. F., Romach, M. K., Kranzler, H. R., Pettinati, H., O’Malley, S., and Mann, K. (1996). Pharmacotherapy of alcoholism – 10 years of progress. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 20:172A-175A. Review concluding naltrexone is safe and effective especially in alcoholics with a family history of alcoholism.
  13. O’Malley, S. S., Jaffe, A. J., Chang, G., Rode, S.,  Schottenfeld, R. S.,  Meyer, R. E., and Rounsaville, B. (1996).  Six-month follow-up of naltrexone and psychotherapy for alcohol dependence. Archives of General Psychiatry 53: 217-224. Significant benefits from naltrexone continue for months after the end of treatment in Coping with Drinking group, but no significant benefits with abstinence.
  14. Litten, R.Z., Croop, R. S., Chick, J., McCaul, M.E., Mason, B., and Sass, H. (1996) International update: New findings on promising medications. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 20: 216A-218A. Preliminary reports from the British naltrexone trial, the Baltimore naltrexone trial, and the Miami nalmefene trial, all with significant benefits, as well as the large scale DuPont open label study showing safety for naltrexone.
  15. O’Malley, S.S., Jaffe, A.J., Rode, S., and Rounsaville, B.J. (1996) Experience of a “slip” among alcoholics treated with naltrexone or placebo. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(2): 281-283. Naltrexone patients drink the same as placebo patients on first day of a slip (before extinction), but the naltrexone patients subsequently are less likely to relapse into heavy drinking and have lower craving.
  16. Croop, R. S., Faukner, E. B., Labriola, D. F. (1997) The Naltrexone Usage Study Group. The safety profile of naltrexone in the treatment of alcoholism: Results from a multicenter usage study. Archives General Psychiatry 54:1130-1135. The large DuPont safety study showing naltrexone was safe and effective.
  17. Maxwell, S., and Shinderman, M. S. (1997) Naltrexone in the treatment of dually-diagnosed patients. Journal of Addictive Diseases 16: A27, 125, 1997 ¶ Maxwell, S., and Shinderman M. S. (2000) Use of naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol use disorders in patients with concomitant severe mental illness. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 19: 61-69. Naltrexone was safe and effective in dual diagnosis alcoholics who were allowed to drink while on medication but it was not effective in regular alcoholics who were told to abstain while on medication.  Discussion concludes the results support Sinclair’s hypothesis that naltrexone works by extinction.
  18. Volpicelli, J. R., Rhines, K. C., Rhines, J. S., Volpicelli, L. A., Alterman, A. I., and O’Brien, C. P. (1997) Naltrexone and alcohol dependence: Role of subject compliance. Archives of General Psychiatry 54: 737-742. Naltrexone was safe and effective, but poor compliance limited results. No significant benefits before first drink in total population, but when only compliant patients examined, there was a significant benefit before the reported first drink.
  19. Oslin, D., Liberto, J., O’Brien, C.P., Krois, S., and Norbeck J. (1997) Naltrexone as an adjunct treatment for older patients with alcohol dependence.  American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 5: 324-332. Naltrexone was safe and effective in older patients who drank, but of no benefit until the first drink on medication.
  20. Lifrak, P. D., Alterman, A. I., OBrien, C. P., and Volpicelli, J. R. (1997). Naltrexone for alcoholic adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154 (3): pp 439-440. Naltrexone was safe and effective in adolescent alcoholics.
  21. Kranzler, H. R., Tennen, H., Penta, C., and Bohn, M. J. (1997). Targeted naltrexone treatment of early problem drinkers. Addictive Behaviors 22: 431-436. ¶ Kranzler, H. R., Tennen, H., Blomqvist et al.. (2001) Targeted naltrexone treatment for early problem drinkers. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research 25 (Suppl. 5) 144A. First trial to give naltrexone only when patients were drinking, in accord with the Sinclair Method; Naltrexone was safe and produced significant benefits, but none before first drink while on medication.
  22. O’Connor, P. G., Farren, C. K., Rounsaville, B. J., and O’Malley, S. S. (1997) A preliminary investigation of the management of alcohol dependence with naltrexone by primary care providers. Am J Med 103(6): 477-482. Open label study concluding: “Naltrexone and counseling by primary care providers appeared to be both feasible and effective.”
  23. McCaul, M. E., Wand, G. S., Sullivan, J, Mummford, G., and Quigley, J. (1997) Beta-naltrexol level predicts alcohol relapse.   Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 21: 32A. Naltrexone was safe and effective in patients with higher levels of the metabolite, beta-naltrexol and with higher dose (100 mg). Benefits no longer significant at 6 months.
  24. Balldin, J., Berglund, M., Borg, S., Månsson, M., Berndtsen, P., Franck, J., Gustafsson, L., Halldin, J., Hollstedt, C., Nilsson, L-H., and Stolt, G..  (1997) A randomized 6 month double-blind placebo-controlled study of naltrexone and coping skills education programme.  Alcohol and Alcoholism 32: 325; ¶ Månsson, M., Balldin, J., Berglund, M., and Borg, S. (1999) Six-month follow-up of interaction effect between naltrexone and coping skills therapy in outpatient alcoholism treatment. Alcohol and Alcoholism 34:  454; ¶ Månsson, M., Balldin, J., Berglund, M., and Borg, S. (1999) Interaction effect between naltrexone and coping skills.  Treatment and follow-up data. Abstract to “Evidence Based Medicine of Naltrexone in Alcoholism”, satellite symposium to the 7th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Barcelona, Spain, June 16-19, 1999.   Swedish dual DBPC clinical trial showing naltrexone was safe and effective with “Coping” instructions but not effective with abstinence.
  25. Sinclair, D. (1997) Development in Finland of the extinction treatment for alcoholism with naltrexone. Psychiatrica Fennica 28: 76-97. ¶ Sinclair, J.D. (1998) Pharmacological extinction of alcohol drinking with opioid antagonists. Arqivos de Medicina 12 (Supl. 1): 95-98. ¶ Sinclair, J. D., Kymäläinen, O., Hernesniemi, M., Shinderman, M. S., and Maxwell S. (1998). Treatment of alcohol dependence with naltrexone utilizing an extinction protocol. Abstracts: 38th Annual Meeting, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-sponsored New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) Program, Boca Raton, Florida, June 10-13, 1998 ¶ Sinclair, J. D. (1998) New treatment options for substance abuse from a public health viewpoint. Annals of Medicine 30: 406-411. Publication of the highly significant reductions in craving and drinking found in the first Finnish clinics using the Sinclair Method.
  26. Rybakowski, J.K., Ziólkowski, M., and Volpicelli, J.R. (1997) A study of lithium, carbamazepine and naltrexone in male patients with alcohol dependence – results of four months of treatment. Abstract from the annual meeting of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Naltrexone with Support of abstinence was not effective.
  27. Sinclair, j. D., Kymäläinen, O., and Jakobson, B. (1998) Extinction of the association between stimuli and drinking in the clinical treatment of alcoholism with naltrexone. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 22: suppl.: 144A. Naltrexone treatment significantly reduced the ability of all sorts of stimuli (positive affect, negative affect, and neutral) to trigger drinking, in accord with a prediction of the extinction hypothesis.
  28. Anton, R. (1998) Naltrexone compared to placebo when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of outpatient alcoholics. Presented at the Ninth Congress of the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ISBRA), Copenhagen, Denmark, June 27-July 2, 1998 ¶ Anton, R. (1999) Neurobiologial approach to alcoholism therapy: The role of naltrexone. Abstract to “Evidence Based Medicine of Naltrexone in Alcoholism,” satellite symposium to the 7th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Barcelona, Spain, June 16-19, 1999 ¶ Anton, R. F., Moak, D. H., Waid, L. R., Latham, P. K., Malcolm, R.J., and Dias, J. K. (1999) Naltrexone and cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of outpatient alcoholics: Results of a placebo-controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry 156: 1758–1764.  DBPC trial showing naltrexone with coping to be safe and effective.  No benefit before first drink on medication.
  29. Hersh, D., Van Kirk, J.R., and Kranzler, H.R. (1998) naltrexone treatment of comorbid alcohol and cocaine use disorders. Psychopharmacology (Berl). Sep; 139(1-2): 44-52. Small study with no significant benefits of naltrexone over placebo in patients addicted to both alcohol and cocaine.
  30. Sinclair, J.D. (1998) From optimal complexity to the naltrexone extinction of alcoholism. In: Viewing Psychology as a Whole: The Integrative Science of William N. Dember. Hoffman, R., Sherrick, M.F., and Warm, J.S. (eds.), Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, pp. 491-508. Review concluding naltrexone is effective and works by extinction.
  31. O’Malley, S. (ed.) (1998) Naltrexone and Alcoholism Treatment. Rockville, MD:  U.S.Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series Vol. 28.  Book showing safety and efficacy of naltrexone and how it has been used. Includes “Why Isn’t Naltrexone More Widely Used” on p. 75.
  32. Kim SW (1998)  Opioid antagonists in the treatment of impulse-control disorders.  Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 59: 159-164.  In the three case studies, naltrexone helped decrease impulse-control disorders (case 1: pathological gambling + compulsive shopping; case 2: bulimia nervosa + compulsive shopping + cocaine & narcotic abuse; case 3: kleptomania + washing syndrome + hoarding syndrome).
  33. Heinälä, P., Alho, H., Kuoppasalmi, K., Sinclair, D., Kiianmaa, K., and Lönnqvist, J. (1999)  Use of naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence – a double-blind placebo-controlled Finnish trial. Alcohol and Alcoholism 34: 433 ¶ Heinälä, P., Alho, H., Kuoppasalmi, K., Lönnqvist, J., Sinclair, D., and Kiianmaa, K. (1999). Naltrexone in alcoholism treatment: Patient efficacy and compliance.  In: New Research. Program and Abstracts. American Psychiatric Association 1999 Annual Meeting. Washington, DC. May 15-20, 1999 ¶ Alho, H., Heinälä, P., Kiianmaa, K., and Sinclair, J. D. (1999) Naltrexone for alcohol dependence: double-blind placebo-controlled Finnish trial. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 23: 46A (abstract 246) ¶ Heinälä, P., Alho, H., Kuoppasalmi, K., Lönnqvist, J., Kiianmaa, K., and Sinclair, J. D. (2000) Targeted naltrexone with coping therapy for controlled drinking, without prior detoxification, is effective and particularly well tolerated: An 8-month controlled trial. Abstract to 10th Congress of the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ISBRA 2000), Yokohama, Japan, July 2 – July 8, 2000 ¶ Heinälä, P., Alho, H., Kiianmaa, K., Lönnqvist, J., Kuoppasalmi, K., and Sinclair, J.D. (2001). Targeted use of naltrexone without prior detoxification in the treatment of alcohol dependence: A factorial double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 21 (3): 287-292.  Finnish dual DBPC clinical trial.  The Sinclair Method was tested (with no prior detoxification, instructions aimed at controlled drinking, naltrexone given only when drinking, and naltrexone continued for 8 months) and shown to be particularly safe and to produce significant benefits over placebo.  Naltrexone was also tested with abstinence and found to be slightly worse than placebo and to produce significantly more side effects than when used with controlled drinking.
  34. Garbutt, J. C., West, S. L., Carey, T. S, Lohr, K. N., and Crews, F. T. (Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, AHCPR) (1999) Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 3: Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Dependence. Pharmacological Treatment of Alcohol Dependence: A Review of the Evidence.  JAMA 281: 1318-1325. Review of all pharmaceutical treatments for alcoholics, concluding that naltrexone is safe and effective, and with better evidence than any other medication.
  35. Mason, B. J., Salvato, F. R., Williams, L. D., Ritvo, E. C., and Cutler, R. B.   (1999) A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of oral nalmefene for alcohol dependence.  Archives of General Psychiatry 56: 719-725. Second nalmefene study, DBPC trial showing it to be safe and effective, but not beneficial until first drink on medication.
  36. Rubio, G. (1999) How to use naltrexone in different alcoholic patient groups. Abstract to “Evidence Based Medicine of Naltrexone in Alcoholism”, satellite symposium to the 7th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Barcelona, Spain, June 16-19, 1999. Open label but placebo controlled study showing naltrexone was safe and effective. No benefit until first drink on medication.
  37. Swift, R.M. (1999) Drug therapy for alcohol dependence.  New England Journal of Medicine 340: 1482-1490. Review concluding, “of all drugs studied for the treatment of alcohol dependence, the evidence of efficacy is strongest for naltrexone and acamprosate.”
  38. Batel, P., Lancrenon, S., and Baconnet, B. (1999) Compliance, tolerance and outcome of 3 months naltrexone treatment among 215 alcohol dependents.  Alcohol Alcoholism 34; 452 (abstract 125). Open label showing good compliance in 76% of patients and relapse to heavy drinking most likely in poor compliers.
  39. Knox, P.C., and Donovan, D.M. (1999) Using naltrexone in inpatient alcoholism treatment.  Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 31 (4):373-388. Naltrexone with abstinence (in an inpatient program) was of no benefit; 63 alcoholics,  DBPC.
  40. Oslin, D.W., Pettinati, H.M., Volpicelli, J.R., Wolf, A.L., Kampman, K.M., and O’Brien, C.P. (1999) The effects of naltrexone on alcohol and cocaine use in dually addicted patients.  Journal of Substance Abuse and Treatment, 16(2):163-167. Naltrexone produced significant decreases in alcohol and cocaine use.
  41. Morris, P. (1999) A controlled trial of naltrexone for alcohol dependence: An Australian perspective.  Presented at the 1999 Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 26-July 1, 1999, Santa Barbara, California ¶ Morris, P.L.P., Hopwood, M., Whelan, G., Gardiner, J., and Drummond, E. (2001) Naltrexone for alcohol dependence: A randomised controlled trial.  Addiction 96: 1565-1573 Naltrexone was safe and effective with Coping with Drinking protocol.  No benefit until first drink on medication.
  42. Dannon, P.N.,  Iancu, I., and Grunhaus, L. (1999) Naltrexone treatment in kleptomanic patients.  Human Psychopharmacology 14(8): 583-585. Case study reporting two kleptomanic patients successfully treated with naltrexone.
  43. Sinclair, J. D., Sinclair, K., and Alho, H. (2000). Long-term follow up of continued naltrexone treatment. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 24 suppl.: 182A. (S16:4) Significant benefits of naltrexone are still present three years after start of treatment in patients always taking medication before drinking, on craving, drinking levels, and liver damage markers.
  44. World Health Organization (2000). Management of substance dependence. Review Series. A systematic review of opioid antagonists for alcohol dependence, 4. WHO/MSD/MSB 00.4  Naltrexone is effective in treating alcoholism.
  45. Chick, J., Anton, R.,  Checinski, K.,  Croop, R.,  Drummond, D.C.,  Farmer, R.,   Labriola, D.,  Marshall, J.,  Moncrieff, J.,  Morgan, M.Y.,  Peters, T.,  and Ritson, B. (2000)  A multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of  naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence or abuse.  Alcohol & Alcoholism 35(6): 587-593, Nov-Dec.  DBPC trial showing naltrexone was safe and effective in complying patients. No benefit until after first drink on medication.
  46. Kranzler, H., Modesto-Lowe, V., and VanKirk, J. (2000) Naltrexone vs nefazadone for treatment of alcohol dependence. Neuropsychopharmacology 22: 493-503. DBPC trial failed to find significant benefit from NTX with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, but same subjects contributed to significant NTX effect in Oslin et al, 2003.
  47. Auriacombe, M., Robinson, M., Grabot, D., and Tignol, J. (2000) Naltrexone is ineffective to prevent relapse to alcohol in a realistic out-patient setting.  A double blind one-year controlled study. Abstract to the 62nd  Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Bal Harbor, Florida. Naltrexone with Supportive therapy was ineffective.
  48. Pettinati, H.M., Volpicelli, J.R., Pierce, Jr., J.D., and O’Brien, C.P. (2000) Improving naltrexone response: An intervention for medical practitioners to enhance medication compliance in alcohol dependent patients  Journal of Addictive Diseases, 19: 71-83. DBPC 12 trial with naltrexone plus BRENDA or cognitive behavioural therapy.  Naltrexone significantly better that placebo: lack of relapse to heavy drinking = 90% in NTX group vs  61.4%  (or 11.4% reported on-line) with placebo, p
  49. O’Malley, S.S. (2001) Getting beyond the research clinic studies: comments on Morris et al. (2001). Addiction 96(12): 1859-1860. Points out that the main effects in patients who sample alcohol while on medication.
  50. Ceccanti, M., Nocente, R., Calducci, G., Deiana,L., Attilia, M.L., Sasso, G.F., Sebastiani, G., Ulanio, F., and Goriale, G. (2001) Naltrexone ed alcol:esperienze cliniche in Italia. Medicina delle Tossicodipendenze–Italian Journal of the Addictions. 30: 47–50. Single blind, randomized trial on over 60 outpatients, showed that NTX was not more effective than placebo in treating alcoholics. This probably was done with instructions to abstain, but the article does not say what instructions were give, so this is classified as unclear.
  51. Kranzler, H. R., and Van Kirk, J. (2001) Efficacy of naltrexone and acamprosate for alcoholism treatment: A meta-analysis.  Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research 25(9): 1335-1341, 2001. Review concluding naltrexone is safe and generally effective.
  52. Anton, R. F., Moak, D. H.,  Latham, P. K.,  Waid, L.  R., Malcolm, R. J., Dias, J. K., and   Roberts, J.S. (2001) Post-treatment results of combining naltrexone with cognitive-behavior therapy for the treatment of alcoholism.  Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 21(1): 72-77. Naltrexone was safe and effective. Benefits continue after termination of medication but eventually disappear, in accord with extinction.
  53. Monti, P. M., Rohsenow, D. J., Swift, R.  M., Gulliver, S. B., Colby, S. M.,  Mueller, T. I.,  Brown, R. A.,  Gordon, A.,  Abrams, D. B.,  Niaura, R. S., and  Asher, M. K. (2001)   Naltrexone and cue exposure with coping and communication skills training   for alcoholics: Treatment process and 1-year outcomes   Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research 25(11): 1634-1647. Naltrexone plus coping therapy was safe and effective.  No benefit until first drink on medication.
  54. Rubio, G., Jiménez-Arriero, A., Ponce, G., and Palomo, T. (2001) Naltrexone versus acamprosate: one year follow-up of alcohol dependence treatment. Alcohol and Alcoholism 36: 419-425. Naltrexone was safe and effective with Coping with Drinking protocol. No benefit until first drink on medication.
  55. Monterosso JR, Flannery BA, Pettinati HM, Oslin DW, Rukstalis M, O’Brien and Volpicelli JR. (2001) Predicting treatment response to naltrexone: the influence of craving and family history. American Journal of Addiction 10: 258-268. Naltrexone was safe and effective, especially with a high craving and a family history of alcoholism.
  56. Sinclair, J. D. (2001) Evidence about the use of naltrexone and for different ways of using it in the treatment of alcoholism. Alcohol and Alcoholism 36: 2-10. Review concluding that naltrexone is safe and effective but only when paired with drinking; data presented of the extinction of craving from naltrexone treatment in Finland.
  57. Krystal, J. H., Cramer, J. A., Krol, W. F., Kirk, G. F., and Rosenheck, R. A. (2001) Naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence. New England Journal of Medicine 345: 1734-1739. DBPC trial of naltrexone with abstinence on 627 veterans found no significant benefits over placebo.
  58. Streeton, C., and Whelan, G. (2001) Naltrexone, a relapse prevention maintenance treatment of alcohol dependence: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.  Alcohol & Alcoholism 36(6): 544-552.  Meta-analysis of all published and unpublished trials concluded naltrexone was safe and effective in alcoholism treatment.
  59. Gual, S. A. (2001) Evolucion clinica del alcoholismo tratado con naltrexona. Efectividad y seguridad en una muestra de 198 pacientes. Med Clin (Barc) 116(14): 526-532.  Open label study showing safety of naltrexone.
  60. Schmitz, J. M., Stotts, A. L., Rhoades, H. M., and Grabowski, J. (2001) Naltrexone and relapse prevention treatment for cocaine-dependent patients. Addictive Behavior 26(2): 167-180.  Dual DBPC at University of Texas showed naltrexone was safe and effective in treating cocaine addiction when used with a coping protocol, but naltrexone tended to be worse than placebo when used with abstinence.
  61. Kim, S. W., and Grant, J. E. (2001) An open naltrexone treatment study in pathological gambling disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 16: 285-289. Open label, showing naltrexone was safe and effective in treating gambling.
  62. Kim, S. W., Grant, J. E., Adson, D. E., and Shin, Y. C. (2001) Double-blind naltrexone and placebo comparison study in the treatment of pathological gambling. Biol Psychiatry 1;49: 914-921. DBPC trial showing naltrexone was safe and effective in treating gambling.
  63. Mäkelä, R., Kallio, A., and Karhuvaara, S. (2001) Nalmefene in the treatment of heavy drinking. Programme & Abstracts of the 2001 ISAM Meeting, Trieste, Italy, September 12-14 (no page numbers) ¶ Mäkelä, R. (2002) Multisite study of nalmefene for the treatment of heavy alcohol drinkers with  impaired control. Presented at the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 28-July 3, 2002, San Francisco, CA, USA. Nalmefene was safe and effective, especially in family history positive alcoholics, without extensive counseling.
  64. Anton, R. (2002) Multisite study of nalmefene combined with modified motivational enhancement therapy in the treatment of outpatient alcoholics Presented at the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 28-July 3, 2002, San Francisco, CA, USA. Nalmefene was safe, but with “Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) it was not significantly effective, probably because this therapy is generally enhancement of motivation for abstinence (see #70 below).
  65. Guardia, J. (2002) A double-blind placebo-controlled study of naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol-dependence.  Results from a multicenter clinical trial. Proceedings of the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 28-July 3, 2002, San Francisco, CA, USA. ¶ Guardia J, Caso C, Arias F, Gual A, Sanahuja J, Ramirez M, Mengual I, Gonzalvo B, Segura L, Trujols J, and Casas M. (2002) A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol-dependence disorder: results from a multicenter clinical trial Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 26(9): 1381-1387 Naltrexone was safe and effective in 202 patients reducing relapses to heavy drinking. No benefit until first drink while on medication.
  66. Kiefer, F. (2002) Randomized controlled trial of naltrexone, acamprosate, and the combination in the treatment of alcoholism. Proceedings of the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 28-July 3, 2002, San Francisco, CA, USA. ¶ Kiefer, F., Jahn, H., Tarnaske, T., Helwig, H., Briken, P., Holzbach, R., Kampf, P. Stracke, R., Baehr, M., Naber, D., and Wiedemann, K. (2003) Comparing and combining naltrexone and acamprosate in relapse prevention of alcoholism: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study.  Archives of General Psychiatry 60(1): 92-9 ¶  Lesch, O.M. Diagnostic categories. European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Consensus Meeting, Nice, France, March 12.14, 2003. DBPC study showing naltrexone was safe and effective alone and in combination with acamprosate, with naltrexone alone or in combination with acamprosate better than acamprosate alone.  An analysis of the results by Lesch showed that naltrexone benefited those who drank while on the medication but not those getting it with abstinence, but acamprosate produced benefits with abstinence.
  67. Rukstalis, M.(2002) Comparing responses to alcohol, naltrexone in males and females.Proceedings of the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 28-July 3, 2002, San Francisco, CA, USA. Naltrexone was equally effective in men and women.
  68. Berglund, M. (2002) Medications for alcohol dependence. Treatment of Alcohol Abuse: An Evidence-based Review, from The Swedish Council on Technology in Health Care (SBU) Proceedings of the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 28-July 3, 2002, San Francisco, CA, USA, p. 43. Berglund, M., Thelander, S., Salaspuro, M., Franck, J., Andréasson, S., and Öjehagen, A. (2003) Treatment of alcohol abuse: An evidence-based review.  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27(10): 1645-1656. A search of all published and unpublished evidence showed naltrexone and acamprosate are only the medications for alcoholism with well-documented benefits.  Naltrexone has been effective except when used with support of abstinence. In the 2003 report, a statistical analysis showed significantly better results with Coping/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) than with Supportive therapy (p<0.05) (even though the O’Malley et al., 1992, results were incorrectly reported as significant with Supportive) and the meta-analysis showed a significant benefit over placebo with CBT.
  69. Alkermes, Inc., press release. (2002) Alkermes reports positive results of phase II clinical trial of VIVITREX for alcohol dependency at annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Jan 3, 2002. The company’s sustained-release naltrexone was found to be safe and effective in treating alcoholism.
  70. Gastpar, M., Bonnet, U., Böning, J., Mann, K., Schmidt, L.G., Soyka, M., Wetterlingm,T., Kielstein, V., Labriola, D., and Croop. R. (2002) Lack of efficacy of naltrexone in the prevention of alcohol relapse, results from a German multicenter study. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 22(6): 592-598. DBPC trial with strict abstinence, finding no benefit of naltrexone over placebo.
  71. Latt, N. C., Jurd, S., Houseman, J., and Wutzke, S. E. (2002) Naltrexone in alcohol dependence: a randomised controlled trial of effectiveness in a standard clinical setting. The Medical Journal of Australia 3;176(11): 530-534. DBPC trial without counseling found naltrexone to be safe and effective.
  72. Leavitt, S.B. (2002) Evidence for the efficacy of naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence (alcoholism).  Addiction Treatment Forum (March), Special Report.  Review concluding naltrexone is safe and effective, except in combination with support of abstinence.
  73. Grant HE and Kim SW (2002_ Effectiveness of pharmacotherapy for pathological gambling: A chart review.  Annals of Clinical Psychiarty 14: 155-161.  Open label naltrexone very effective against pathological gambling: 90.9% success rat vs 45.5% for SSRI.
  74. Sinclair, J.D. and R.M.Salimov.  New effective method of treatment of addiction to alcohol: extinction with the help of opiate receptor antagonists. (in Russian)  Narcologia 5: 37-40, 2002. Review concluding naltrexone is safe, effective, and works with extinction.
  75. Raymond NC, JE Grant, R Coleman (2002)  Treatment of compulsive sexual behaviour with naltrexone and serotonin reuptake inhibitors:  two case studies.  International Clinical Pschopharmacology 17: 201-205.  Two case studies: Naltrexone surpressed compulsive sexual behaviour and urges in the man and woman, plus cocaine use in the woman.
  76. BioTie Therapies Corp., press release, April 24 (2003) Phase III clinical studies in alcoholism and alcohol abuse. http://www.biotie.com/en/research/dependence-disorders/nalmefene.html Large DBPC clinical trial found nalmefene without psychosocial therapy reduced heavy drinking days by half, highly significant difference from placebo. 570 patients in Finland and UK. Highly significantly greater reduction in heavy drinking days than with placebo.  Also significantly more nalmefene than placebo patients rated much improved or very much improved in both Finland and UK separately and together.
  77. BioTie Therapies Corp, press release, May 30 (2003) Results from a Phase II clinical study suggest nalmefene effective in the treatment of pathological gambling. DBPC clinical trial with 200 subjects found nalmefene significantly better than placebo in reducing craving and thoughts about gambling: the level with nalmefene was about half that in the placebo group. ¶ Jon E. Grant, Marc N. Potenza, Eric Hollander, Renee Cunningham-Williams, Tommi Nurminen, Gerard Smits, and Antero Kallio (2006) Multicenter Investigation of the Opioid Antagonist Nalmefene in the Treatment of Pathological Gambling. American Journal of Psychiatry 163: 303-312. DBPC trial with 207 subjects found 20 mg nalmefene tolerated well and effective in reducing compulsive feelings about gambling and in improving patient condition; 50 and 100 mg caused too many side effects.
  78. Anton, R. F., D.M Moak, P.K. Latham, D.L. Myrick, and L.R. Waid (2003) A double blind comparison of naltrexone combined with CBT or MET in the treatment of alcohol dependence. 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 21-25, 2003, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27 (supplement): 191A (abstract S170) Dual DBPC trial showed naltrexone was effective with Coping with drinking but not with Motivation Enhancement Therapy (MET).  Anton in 2002 (#61) had gotten similar negative results with MET and nalmefene, confirming that MET is like Support of Abstinence and not a suitable protocol for opioid antagonists.
  79. O’Malley, S.S. (2003) Can alternative behavioral strategies and settings enhance the outcome of naltrexone and for whom? 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 21-25, 2003, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27 (supplement): 191A (abstract S172). In one experiment, drinking alcohol while on naltrexone suppressed selection of further alcoholic beverages especially when the second presentation was not immediate but several hours later, showing that the effect was not from rational thinking after experiencing a lack of euphoria but rather caused by a slow mechanism (extinction or similar to extinction) started by the lack of reinforcement.  In addition, naltrexone was effective in blocking heavy drinking in smokers taking the medicine for smoking and not intending nor instructed to reduce drinking.  Author’s conclusion: naltrexone should be used initially without abstinence to reduce drinking and only after that should abstinence become the goal.
  80. Killeen T, Brady K, Faldowski R, Gold P, Simpson K (2003) The effectiveness of naltrexone in a community treatment program.  Abstracts of the 65th Annual Scientific Meeting, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, June 14-19, 2003, Bal Harbour, Florida, USA. ¶ Killeen T, Brady K, Faldowski R, Gold P, Simpson K, Anton, R. (2003) The efficacy of naltrexone in a community treatment program. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27 (suppl), 146a (abstract 846). DBPC trial found naltrexone significantly improved drinking-related outcomes in patients drinking during the two weeks before treatment began but not in patients abstinent at that time of treatment onset.  Authors conclude “naltrexone may be more effective for patients who fail to abstain upon entry into treatment for alcohol abuse.“[CPDD and naltrexone is best for “those that are actively drinking at the time of initiation of treatment” [RSA].
  81. Krupitsky, E., E. Zvartau, D. Masalov, M.Tsoi, A.Burakov, V. Egorova, T.Didenko, T.Romanova, E.Ivanova, A.Bespalov, E.Verbitskaya, N.Neznanov, A.Grinenko, and G.Woody (2003) A double-blind, placebo controlled trial of naltrexone for heroin addiction treatment in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Proceeding of  NIDA-Pavlov Workshop “Pharmacotherapies for Addiction: Basic and Clinical Science” St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 28 – Oct. 1. Krupitsky, E., E. Zvartau, D. Masalov, M. Tsoy, A. Burakov, V. Egorova, T. Didenko, T. Romanova, E. Ivanova, A. Bespalov, E.V. Verbitskaya, N. G. Neznanov, A.Y. Grinenko, C.P. O’Brien and G.E. Woody (2006) Naltrexone with or without fluoxetine for preventing relapse to heroin addiction in St. Petersburg, Russia. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 31:  319-328. DBPC trial found addicts sampled opiates while on naltrexone but a significantly lower percentage than among placebo patients relapsed to full-scale drug addiction.  Krupitsky agrees that results support extinction.
  82. Oslin DW, W Berrettini, HR Kranzler, H Pettinati, J Gelernter,  JR Volpicelli, CP O’Brien (2003) A functional polymorphism of the µ-opioid response in alcohol-dependent patients.  Neuropsychopharmacology 28: 1546-1552.  Combination of three previous trials, one published positive (Monterosso et al. 2001), one published negative (Kranzler et al., 2000) and one unpublished found significant benefit of NTX on relapse rate and time to first relapse, with significantly better results in patient with the A/G or G/G allele than the A/A allele at the gene for mu receptors, but no medication by genotype interaction.  No significant effect of NTX on abstinence.
  83. Alkermes, Inc., press release. (December 8, 2003) Alkermes Announces Statistically Significant Reduction in Heavy Drinking in Alcohol Dependent Patients in Phase III Clinical Trial of Vivitrex® DBPC study of 624 alcoholics.  Significant 48% reduction in drinking in slow release naltrexone-treated males, but not significant in females. James C. Garbutt, MD; Henry R. Kranzler, MD; Stephanie S. O’Malley, PhD; David R. Gastfriend, MD; Helen M. Pettinati, PhD; Bernard L. Silverman, MD; John W. Loewy, PhD; Elliot W. Ehrich, MD; for the Vivitrex Study Group (2005) Efficacy and Tolerability of Long-Acting Injectable Naltrexone for Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 293: 1617-1625. Compared with placebo, 380 mg of long-acting naltrexoneresulted in a 25% decrease in the event rate of heavy drinkingdays (P = .03)(n=205). Lower dose (190 mg) just failed to reach significance. Better results in men and with pre-treatment abstinence.
  84. Laaksonen E. (2004) Comparing disulfiram, acamprosate, and naltrexone treatment of alcoholism.  International Society on Addictive Medicine (ISAM) meeting Helsinki, Finland, June 2-5, 2004.  Naltrexone was safe and more effective than acamprosate
  85. Bouza C, Magro A, Muñoz A, Amate JM  (2004) Efficacy and safety of naltrexone and acamprosate in the treatment of alcohol dependence: a systematic review. Addiction 99: 811–828. Review concluding “Both acamprosate and naltrexone are effective as adjuvant therapies for alcohol dependence in adults. Acamprosate appears to be especially useful in a therapeutic approach targeted at achieving abstinence, whereas naltrexone seems more indicated in programmes geared to controlled consumption.”
  86. Deas D, May K, Randall C, Johnson N, Anton R (2005) Naltrexone treatment of adolescent alcoholics: An open-label pilot study. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 15: 723-728. Small open-label study of outpatient 13-17 year old adolescent alcoholics without detox, found naltrexone is safe and produced a significant reduction in alcohol drinking in the 6 weeks.
  87. Rubio G, Ponce G, Rodriquez-Jiménez R, Jiménez-Arriero MA, Hoenicka J,  Palomo, T. (2005) Clinical predictors of response to naltrexone in alcoholic patients: Who benefits most from treatment with naltrexone? Alcohol and Alcoholism. 40: 227-233. 3 month open trial in 336 men, looking at results in last 28 days. “Predictors of a positive responseto NTX treatment were family history of alcoholism (P = 0.010),early age at onset of drinking problems (P = 0.014) and comorbiduse of other drugs of abuse (P < 0.001),” generally things that usually correlate with poor results in treatment.
  88. Sinclair, J D (2005) The Second Generation of Anti-Relapse Drugs:Opioidergic Compounds: Clinical. In: R Spanagel and K Mann (eds): Drugs for Relapse Prevention of Alcoholism, in the series Milestones in Drug Therapy. Basal, Switzerland; Birkhäuser, pages 125-134. Review concluding “Nalmefene appears to be an appropriate medicine for preventing alcohol abuse but not for maintaining abstinence.”
  89. Srisurapanont, M. and Jarusuraisin, N. (2005) Naltrexone for the treatment of alcoholism: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 8: 267–280. Review concluding that naltrexone is effective for preventing drinking alcoholics relapsing to heavy drinking but not for stopping the first sampling in alcoholics who are abstaining.
  90. Hernandez-Avila CA, Song C, Kuo L, Tennen H, Armeli S, Kranzler HR. (2006) Targeted versus daily naltrexone: secondary analysis of effects on average daily drinking. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. May; 30(5): 860-865. DBPC trial, n=150, of naltrexone with coping with drinking found naltrexone was effective especially with targeted use. Only targeted, not daily NTX helped women.
  91. Anton RF, O’Malley, SS Ciraulo DC, Cisler RA. Couper D, Donovan DM, Gastfriend DR, Hosking JD, Johnson BA, LoCastro JS, Longabaugh R, Mason BJ, Mattson ME, Miller WR, Pettinati HM, Randall CL, Swift R, Weiss RD, Williams LD, Zweben AZ, for the COMBINE Study Research Group (2006) Combined pharmacotherapies and behavioral interventions for alcohol dependence: The COMBINE Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial JAMA. 2006; 295: 2003-2017. Largest DBPC trial in addiction (n=1383 recently detoxified alcoholic) showed NTX with minimal medical intervention was best at increasing days of abstinence and reducing heavy drinking days.  Intensive (20 hours) therapy without medication helped increase abstinence but did not reduce heavy drinking and did not make NTX better (the partially abstinence oriented therapyactually tended to reduce the benefit).  Acamprosate had no significant benefits and taken at the same time as NTX did not help NTX.
  92. O’Neil G, Parsons Z, O’Neil P, Xu JX, Hulse G (2006) Naltrexone implants for amphetamine dependence. 3rd Stapleford International Addiction Conference on: Latest developments in effective medical treatments for addiction, Berlin, March 18-19. Small open-label trial found NTX safe and effective in 73% of amphetamine addicts, reducing their injection days from 58.6 in the 3 mo before to 17.1 in the 3 mo on NTX (p<0.0004)
  93. Grüsser SM, Ziegler S, Thalemann C, Partecke L (2006) Naltrexone as anticraving treatment: A psychophysiologicical evaluation. 3rd Stapleford International Addiction Conference on: Latest developments in effective medical treatments for addiction, Berlin, March 18-19. Naltrexone implants in detoxified opiate addicts produced significantly fewer relapses than levomethadone implants, better psychological results, and subsequently less emotional-motivational involvement when seeing stimuli related to opiate use.
  94. Singh J (2006) Naltrexone implants – an Indian experience. 3rd Stapleford International Addiction Conference on: Latest developments in effective medical treatments for addiction, Berlin, March 18-19. Naltrexone implants worked well in patients who had been abusing opiates or partial opiate agonists (pentazocine, buprenorphine).
  95. Kunøe N, Lobmaier P, Waal H (2006) A matched case-control study of naltrexone implants for relapse prevention in detoxified opioid addicts. 3rd Stapleford International Addiction Conference on: Latest developments in effective medical treatments for addiction, Berlin, March 18-19. Controlled pilot study suggesting “that naltrexone implants are an effective aid in preventing opioid relapse after completion of inpatient treatment”.
  96. Revill, J (2006) An audited 24 month comparison of the George O’Neill 3-vial naltrexone implant with supervised methadone, in a general practice population. 3rd Stapleford International Addiction Conference on: Latest developments in effective medical treatments for addiction, Berlin, March 18-19. 100% of 25 naltrexone patients but only 26% of 25 adequate-dose methadone patients had urines clear of illicit opiates at the end of 2 years.
  97. Grant, J.E., M.N. Potenza, E. Hollander, R. Cunningham-Williams, T. Numinen, G. Smits, and A Kallio (2006).  Multicenter Investigation of the Opioid Antagonist Nalmefene in the Treatmnt of Pathological Gambling.  American Journal of Psychiatry 163: 303-312.  DBPC showing nalmefene produced significant reduction in severity of pathological gambling: success rate (‘much improved’) = 59.2% with nalmefene; 34% with placebo.  The low dose (25mg) was efficacious and well tolerated; higher doses produced intolerable side effects, 66% drop out rate (reportd in study 17)
  98. Somaxon (press release). Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Results From a Pilot Phase 2 Study of Oral Nalmefene in Smoking Cessation SAN DIEGO, CA – July 26, 2006. DBPC study of 76 smokers found no significant benefits from nalmefene but report notes that one of the two nalmefene groups (40 mg) was numerically superior to placebo group (80 mg was not). (Note: Result is what would be expected by chance.)
  99. Morley KC, Teesson M , Reid SC, Sannibale C, Thomson C, Phung N, Weltman M, Bell JR, Richardson K & Haber PS (2006) Naltrexone versus acamprosate in the treatment of alcohol dependence: a multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Addiction 10: 1451-1462. DBPC on 169 Australian alcoholics finds naltrexone significantly delays relapse to heavy drinking but not time to first drink. “The results of this study support the efficacy of naltrexone in the relapse prevention of alcoholism amongst those with low levels of clinical depression and alcohol dependence severity. No effect of acamprosate was found in our sample.” 
  100. Comer SD, Sullivan MA, Yu E, Rothenberg JL, Kleber HD, Kampman K, Dachis C, and O’Brian CP (2006)  Injectable, sustained-release naltrexone for the treatment of opioid dependence: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry 63: 210-218. DBPC with 2 doses of sustained-release naltrexone is 60 patients for 8 weeks.  In a dose-dependent manner, naltrexone significantly improved retention in the study, and when missing urine samples were considered positive, was safe and effective in reducing use of opioids, methadone, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine.
  101. O’Malley SS, Sinha R, Grilo CM, Capone C, Farren CK, McKee SA, Rounsaville BJ & Wu R (2007) Naltrexone and cognitive behavioural coping skills therapy for the treatment of alcohol drinking and eating disorders features in alcohol-dependent women: A randomized controlled trial. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research 31: 625-634. DBPC on 103 women alcoholics, 29 comorbid with eating disorders. “Naltrexone may be of benefit to women who are unable to maintain total abstinence from alcohol.” Among those drinking, naltrexone significantly delayed the time to the second relapse and the time to the third relapse but had no effect on the abstinence rate. There was a tendency (p=0.06 for more loss of weight (body mass index) with naltrexone than with placebo. Both groups had improvement in eating disorders, but there were no significant differences between groups.
  102. Baros AM, Lathan PK, Moak DH, Voronin K & Anton RF (2007) What role does measuring medication compliance play in evaluating the efficacy of naltrexone? Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research 31: 596-603. DBPC on 160 patients with coping. Naltrexone significant better than placebo in the most compliant patients, with about twice as much treatment effect than in the less compliant patients.
  103. Gelernter J, Gueorguieva R, Kranzler HR, Zhan H, Cramer J, Rosenheck R, & Krystal JH (2007) Opioid receptor gene (OPRM1, OPRK1, and OPRD1) variants and response to naltrexone treatment for alcohol dependence: Results from the VA Cooperative Study. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research 31: 555-563.  DBPC study of 215 subjects who gave DNA samples from the previously reported trial (#54). “Although NTX had no significant effect on relapse to heavy drinking in the overall sample in CSP 425 [#54], it significantly reduced relapse in the subgroup that provided DNA for analysis.” There were no published interactions with receptor type but a significant effect with the OPRD1 T921, helping the GG and AG genotypes but not with the AA homozygotic genotype.
  104. Karhuvaara Sakari, Simojoki Kaarlo, Virta Antti, Rosberg Markus, Löyttyniemi Eliisa, Nurminen Tommi, Kallio Antero, and Mäkela Rauno (2007) Targeted nalmefene with simple medical management in the treatment of heavy drinkers: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled multicenter study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 31 (No 7): 1–9. In DBPC trial on 403 subjects for 7 months without intensive counselling, nalmefene decreased drinking more than placebo (p=0.0065), reduced the risk of heavy drinking 32.4% (95% CI: 14.2–46.8%; p=0.003) more than placebo, and progressively reduced markers that increased in placebo group (GGT p=0.009 and ALT p=0.002).
  105. Toneatto, T., Brands, B., Selby, P. and Sinclair, D. (2007) A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of naltrexone in the Treatment of Concurrent Alcohol Dependence and Pathological Gambling.  Naltrexone fail to provide significant benefits in patients with both alcoholism and pathological gambling.
  106. Jayaram-Lindström N, Wennberg P, Hurd YL, Franck J. (2004) Effects of naltrexone on the subjective response to amphetamine in healthy volunteers. J Clin Psychopharmacol; 24(6): 665-669.Nitya Jayaram-Lindström, Maija Konstenius, Staffan Eksborg, Olof Beck, Anders Hammarberg and Johan Franck (2007) Naltrexone Attenuates the Subjective Effects of Amphetamine in Patients with Amphetamine. Dependence Neuropsychopharmacology advance online publication 24 October 2007; doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301572. DBPC on 20 subjects. “Pretreatment with naltrexone also significantly blocked the craving for dexamphetamine (p<0.001)… The potential of naltrexone as an adjunct pharmaceutical for amphetamine dependence is promising.”
  107.  Jayaram-Lindström N, Wennberg P, Hurd YL, Franck J. (2005) An open clinical trial of naltrexone for amphetamine dependence: compliance and tolerability. Nord J Psychiatry., 2005; 59(3): 167-171.Jayaram-Lindstrom N, Hammarberg A, Beck O, Franck J. (2008) Naltrexone for the treatment of amphetamine dependence: A randomized placebo controlled trial. Am J Psychiatry, first published on Sept. 2, 2008 as doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08020304    Jayaram-Lindström, Nitya (2007)  Evaluation of naltrexone as a treatment for amphetamine dependence. Dissertation from Karolinska University Hospital, presented Dec. 18, 2007. After tests with volunteers and a compliance test with amphetamine addicts, Jayaram-Lindström N, Hammarberg A, Beck O, and Johan Franck, (2008) Naltrexone for the treatment of amphetamine dependence: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry. Nov; 165(11): 1442-1448. A 12 week randomized DBPC clinical trial on addicts eventually reduced craving and produced fewer urine positives for amphetamine. Swedish medical council gave this work the award for the best clinical study in 2007.
  108.  Pallesen S, Molde H, Arnestad HM, Laberg JC, Skutle A, Iversen E, Støylen IJ, Kvale G, Holsten F (2007) Outcome of pharmacological treatments of pathological gambling: A review and meta-analysis. J Clin Psychopharmacol 27: 357-364. Pharmacological intervention (including studies with opiate antagonists, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers) produced a significant effect size (0.78; 95% confidence interval 0.62-0.92) relative to no treatment/placebo. “Pharmacological intervention may be an adequate treatment alternative in pathological gambling.”
  109.  Tidey, JW, Monti PM, Rohsenow DJ, Gwaltney CJ, Miranda R Jr., McGeary JE, MacKillop J, Swift RM, Abrams DB, Shiffman S, Paty JA (2008) Moderators of naltrexone’s effects on drinking, urge, and alcohol effects in non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers in the natural environment. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 32: 58–66. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2007.00545.x DBPC on 180 heavy drinkers (63% alcohol dependent) for 3 weeks found naltrexone reduced drinking days and heavy drinking days, plus craving in early onset drinkers and time between drinks in patients with more alcoholic relatives.
  110. Pallenson S, H Molde, HM Amestad, JC Labertg, A Skutle, E Iversen, UK Støylen, G Kvale, F Holsten (2007)  Outcome of pharmacological treatments of pathological gambling: A review and meta-analysis J Clin Psychopharmocol 27: 357-364.  Meta-analysis of studies with opiate antagonists, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers showed pharmacotherapy produced a significant effect size (0.78; 95% confidenc interval 0.62-0.92) relative to no treatment/placebo.  ‘Pharmacological intervention may be an adequate treatment alternative in pathological gambling.’
  111. Tidey, JE, Monti PM, Rohsenow DJ, Gwaltney CJ, Miranda R Jr, McGeary JE, MacKillip J, Swift RM, Abrams DB, Shiffman , Paty JA (2008)  Moderators of naltrexone’s effects on drinking, urge, and alcohol effects in non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers in the natural environment.  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 32: 58-66.  doi. 10.111 / j.1530-0277 2007 00545.x  DBPC on 180 heavy drinkers (63% alcohol dependent) for 3 weeks found naltrexone reduced drinking days and heavy drinking days, plus craving in early onset drinkers and time between drinkins in patients with more alcoholic relatives.
  112.  Grant JE, Kim SW, Hartman BK (2008) A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the opiate antagonist naltrexone in the treatment of pathological gambling urges. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, online preprint April 1, 2008 e1-e7 at PSYCHIATRIST.COM. An 18 week DBPC with 3 doses of naltrexone (50, 100 and 150 mg/day) on 77 pathological gamblers.  Results from the doses did not differ but naltrexone produced significantly lower PG-YBOCS than 19 placebo patients (p=0.0097), urges to gamble (0.0057) and behavior (0.0134), plus better Clinical Global–Improvement scale values (CGI-I, p=0.0080). Among 49 completers, naltrexone did better than placebo on all measures. 
  113.  O’Malley SS, Robin RW, Levenson AL, GreyWolf  I, Chance LE, Hodgkinson CA, Romano D, Robinson J, Meandzija B, Stillner V, Wu R, Goldman D (2008)  Naltrexone alone and with sertraline for the treatment of alcohol dependence in Alaska natives and non-natives residing in rural settings: A randomized controlled trial. Alcoholism: Clinical Experimental Research doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00682. DBPC trial on 101 Alaskans including 68 natives showed naltrexone produced significant benefits over placebo including total abstinence, but sertraline plus naltrexone was no better than just naltrexone.
  114. Anton, R.F. (2008) Naltrexone for the management of alcohol dependence. New England Journal of Medicine 359: 715-721. Review for using naltrexone in light of results from Project Combine.
  115. Anton RF, Oroszi G, O’Malley S, Couper D, Swift R, Pettinati H, Goldman D (2008) An evaluation of mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) as a predictor of naltrexone response in the treatment of alcohol dependence: results from the Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence (COMBINE) study. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 65(2): 135-144. The Asp40 allele is a selective marker for naltrexone efficacy, improving the success rate of naltrexone without intensive counselling to an 87.1%. Naltrexone was not effective in people with the Asn40/Asn40 genotype. The Asp40 allele did not make a difference in subjects treated with naltrexone plus intensive counselling, perhaps explaining why some other trials that included counselling did not find markers.
  116. Petrovic P., Pleger B., Seymour B., Kloppel S., De Martino B., Critchley H., Dolan R. J. (2008), Blocking Central Opiate Function Modulates Hedonic Impact and Anterior Cingulate Response to Rewards and Losses, Journal of Neuroscience, 28: 10509 – 10516; doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2807-08.2008. Naloxone blocked reward from gambling.
  117. Pettinati, H.M.,  Kampman, K.M, Lynch, K.G., Suh, J.J., Dachis, C.A., Oslin, D.W., O’Brien, C.P. (2008) Gender differences with high-dose naltrexone in patients with co-occurring cocaine and alcohol dependence. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 34:  378-390  DBPC trial of 12 week with 116 men and 48 women with co-occurring cocaine and alcohol dependence of 150 mg/day NTX plus BRENDA. Significant Gender x Medication for cocaine, with naltrexone helping men with alcohol and cocaine but making women worse.
  118. O’Brien, C. (2008) Prospects for a genomic approach to the treatment of alcoholism: Archives of General Psychiatry 65: 132-133. Review covering the OPRM1 marker for naltrexone efficacy.
  119. Eskapa, R (2008) The Cure for Alcoholism. Dallas: Ben Bella Books, 320 pages. Book telling about the effective use of naltrexone and nalmefene for extinguishing the underlying cause for craving alcohol and being unable to control drinking.
  120. Mann, K.,  Kiefer, F., Lemenager, T., Vollstädt-Klein, S. (2009) Searching for the acamprosate and naltrexone responder: results from the Predict Study  12th Congress of ESBRA, Helsinki, Finland, June 7-10, 2009.  Abstracts. p. 38 (119). DBPC study with medical maintenance only finds naltrexone significantly delays the first episode of heavy drinking, especially in alcoholics showing high reactions on an fMRI test to alcohol-related cues (as predicted by extinction theory). Naltrexone did not delay the time to taking the first drink.
  121. Kim, Sung-Gon, Kim, Cheol-Min, Choi, Sam-Wook, Jae, Young-Myo, Lee, Hae-Gook, Son, Bong-Ki, Kim, Jeong-Gee, Choi, Young-Sung, Kim, Han-Oh, Kim, Seong-Yeon, Oslin, David (2009) A mu opioid receptor gene polymorphism (A118G) and naltrexone treatment response in adherent Korean alcohol-dependent patients. Psychopharmacology, 201: 611-618. Open-label study showing a higher therapeutic effect of naltrexone in Korean alcoholics with the Asp40 variant of the A118G polymorphism, consistent with results in individuals of European descent, but no differences in abstinence rates.
  122. Grant J, S. Kim, B. Odlaug (2009) A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Opiate Antagonist, Naltrexone, in the Treatment of Kleptomania. Biological Psychiatry, 2009; 65 (7): 600-606 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.11.022 DBPC showing positive results from treating kleptomania with naltrexone.
  123. Sinclair, D. (2009) Selecting patients and replacing detoxification: How opioid antagonists work in treatment. Proceedings of the Annual meeting of the International Society on Addiction Medicine (ISAM) Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sept. 23-29, 2009 Review showing that opioid antagonists have had no significant effect before the first alcohol is drunk while on the medication, in agreement with extinction theory but contrary to common practice by many clinicians
  124. Eskapa, R. (2009) Introducing naltrexone in developing countries and among endogenous people. Proceedings of the Annual meeting of the International Society on Addiction Medicine (ISAM) Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sept. 23-29, 2009. Naltrexone has been safe and effective, with a 75% success rate, when introduced in northern India with an extinction protocol including no prior detox and instruction to take naltrexone always before drinking but only when drinking is expected.
  125. Alho, H., Lahti, T., Sinclair, D., Halme, J. (2010) Treatment of gambling dependence with naltrexone pharmacotherapy and brief intervention: preliminary results. Proceedings of the International Gambling Conference meeting, Feb. 23-26, 2010, Oakland, New Zealand. Open label trial of naltrexone with an extinction protocol (taken only when gambling) plus pharmacologically-enhanced reinforcement of healthy alternative behaviors found highly significant decrease in reported gambling problems and reported BDI depression ratings.
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