Trial reportAlcoholism, clinical and experimental research2014
Effects of naltrexone on neural and subjective response to alcohol in treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent patients.
Trial report in Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Naltrexone effects on subjective responses to alcohol in the human laboratory: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction biology · 2019Pooled it
- The Use of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Test Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Pooled it
- Neuroimaging findings from an experimental pharmacology trial of naltrexone in heavy drinkers of East Asian descent.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Trial
- A preliminary randomized clinical trial of naltrexone reduces striatal resting state functional connectivity in people with methamphetamine use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Trial
- Low μ-Opioid Receptor Status in Alcohol Dependence Identified by Combined Positron Emission Tomography and Post-Mortem Brain Analysis.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Challenges, Potential Solutions in Recruiting and Retaining Participants for Alcohol Use Disorder Research: A Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Safety of Co-Administered Cannabidiol (CBD) and alcohol: a Phase I study.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Testing pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorder with cue exposure paradigms: A systematic review and quantitative synthesis of human laboratory trial methodology.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2023Review
- Are we compulsively chasing rainbows?Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Review
- Comparative Effectiveness Associated With Buprenorphine and Naltrexone in Opioid Use Disorder and Cooccurring Polysubstance Use.JAMA network open · 2022Observational
- Brain Correlates of the Alcohol Use Disorder Pharmacotherapy Response: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Brain sciences · 2022Review
- Subjective Responses to Alcohol in the Development and Maintenance of Alcohol Use Disorder.The American journal of psychiatry · 2021Article
- The future of translational research on alcohol use disorder.Addiction biology · 2021Article
- A Critical Review of Alcohol Administration Guidelines in Laboratory Medication Screening Research: Is It Time to Include Treatment Seekers?Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021Review
- The Feasibility, Tolerability, and Safety of Administering a Very High Alcohol Dose to Drinkers with Alcohol Use Disorder.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2020Article
- To Infuse or Ingest in Human Laboratory Alcohol Research.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2020Review
- Naltrexone Acutely Enhances Connectivity Between the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex and a Left Frontoparietal Network.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Article
- Brain Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Cue-reactivity Can Predict Baclofen Response in Alcohol Use Disorders.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPositively reinforcing properties of alcohol are in part mediated by activation of the ventral striatum (VS). Alcohol-induced release of endogenous opioids is thought to contribute to this response. Preclinical studies show that the opioid antagonist naltrexone (NTX) can block this cascade, but its ability to do so in treatment-seeking alcoholics has not been examined. Our objective was to study the effects of NTX on alcohol-induced VS activation and on amygdala response to affective stimuli in treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent inpatients.
methodsSixty-three treatment-seeking alcoholics were randomized to receive NTX (50 mg) or placebo (PLC) daily. On Day 7, participants underwent an alcohol cue reactivity session, and craving was measured using the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale. On Day 9, participants received a saline infusion followed by an alcohol infusion and also viewed affective stimuli in a magnetic resonance scanner.
resultsIrrespective of medication treatment condition, the alcohol infusion did not activate the VS in the alcohol-dependent patients. Unexpectedly, VS activation was greater in NTX treated patients than in the PLC group. NTX treated patients also reported increased craving in response to alcohol cue exposure, and increased subjective response to alcohol ("high" and "intoxicated") compared to PLC subjects. No significant effects of alcohol infusion on brain response to affective stimuli were in the NTX or PLC groups.
conclusionsUnlike previous findings in social drinkers, a moderate level of intoxication did not activate the VS in treatment-seeking alcoholics. This is likely to reflect tolerance to the positively reinforcing properties of alcohol in this clinical population. Our findings may help explain the efficacy of NTX to reduce heavy drinking, but not to maintain abstinence.
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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.