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Abstract
The devastating costs of opioid abuse and dependence underscore theneed for effective treatments for these disorders. At present, several different maintenance medications exist for treating opioid dependence, including methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone. Of these, naltrexone is theonly one that possesses no opioid agonist effects. Instead, naltrexoneoccupies opioid receptors and prevents or reverses the effects produced by opioid agonists. Despite its clear pharmacologic effectiveness, its clinical effectiveness in treating opioid dependence has been disappointing, primarily due to non-compliance with taking the medication. However, the recent availability of sustained-release formulations of naltrexone has renewed interest in this medication. The present paper describes the development of sustained-release naltrexone formulations and discusses the clinical issues associated with their use in treating opioid dependence.
Disclosure
SD Comer serves as a consultant on issues related to the abuse liability of opioid medications to Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, LLP, Schering-Plough Corp. and Grunenthal GmbH. In addition, SD Comer has received funding from Grunenthal GmbH to conduct two investigator-initial trials on prescription opioid abuse liability. This article was independently commissioned and no fee was received for preparation of the manuscript.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA09236, DA016759).