Trial reportJournal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN2006
Does naltrexone treatment lead to depression? Findings from a randomized controlled trial in subjects with opioid dependence.
Trial report in Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Endogenous mu-opioid modulation of social connection in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Opioid antagonists with minimal sedation for opioid withdrawal.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Naltrexone depot formulations for opioid and alcohol dependence: a systematic review.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2011Pooled it
- Sustained-release naltrexone for opioid dependence.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2008Pooled it
- Suicidal ideation in adults with opioid use disorder treated with buprenorphine-naloxone versus extended-release naltrexone.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2025Trial
- Longitudinal study of impact of medication for opioid use disorder on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Trial
- Attenuation of antidepressant and antisuicidal effects of ketamine by opioid receptor antagonism.Molecular psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Anxiety, Depression, and Insomnia Among Adults With Opioid Dependence Treated With Extended-Release Naltrexone vs Buprenorphine-Naloxone: A Randomized Clinical Trial and Follow-up Study.JAMA psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Accounting for the uncounted: Physical and affective distress in individuals dropping out of oral naltrexone treatment for opioid use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Trial
- Opposing neural effects of naltrexone on food reward and aversion: implications for the treatment of obesity.Psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- The association between naltrexone treatment and symptoms of depression in opioid-dependent patients.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2011Trial
- Samidorphan sadness: does the addition of samidorphan to olanzapine have prodepressive effects?International clinical psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Naltrexone dose-selectively modulates goal-directed behavior and the hypothalamic proteome in rats.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Article
- Depressive Symptomatology Is Associated With Smaller Reductions in Drug Cue Reactivity During Extended-Release Naltrexone Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.The Journal of clinical psychiatry · 2023Article
- Delta Opioid Receptor-Mediated Antidepressant-Like Effects of Diprenorphine in Mice.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2023Article
- Using Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide among High Suicide Risk Patients who also Misuse Opioids: A Preliminary Probe of Feasibility and Effectiveness.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2022Article
- Suicide Risk and Addiction: The Impact of Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders.Current addiction reports · 2021Review
- Review
- Ketamine: The final frontier or another depressing end?Behavioural brain research · 2020Review
- Comorbidity of opioid-related and anxiety-related symptoms and disorders.Current opinion in psychology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveDysphoria and depression have been cited as side effects of the opioid antagonist naltrexone. We aimed to assess whether depressive symptoms are a clinically relevant side effect in a population receiving naltrexone as a treatment for opioid dependence.
methodsWe carried out a randomized controlled, open-label trial comparing rapid opiate detoxification under anesthesia and naltrexone treatment with continued methadone maintenance at the Alcohol and Drug Service, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. The study subjects were patients stabilized on methadone maintenance treatment for heroin dependence who wished to transfer to naltrexone treatment. The Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Opiate Treatment Index subscales for heroin use and social functioning were used at baseline and follow-up assessments at 1, 2, 3 and 6 months.
resultsForty-two participants were allocated to receive naltrexone treatment, whereas 38 continued methadone maintenance as the control condition. Participants who received naltrexone did not exhibit worsening of depressive symptoms. In participants attending all follow-up assessments, there was a trend for those receiving naltrexone to exhibit an improvement in depression over time compared with the control group. Participants who were adherent to naltrexone treatment exhibited fewer depressive symptoms than those who were nonadherent.
conclusionsThese results suggest that depression need not be considered a common adverse effect of naltrexone treatment or a treatment contraindication and that engaging with or adhering to naltrexone treatment may be associated with fewer depressive symptoms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
16496034PMC1325065W2162792128What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.