Naltrexone ameliorates functional network abnormalities in alcohol-dependent individuals.
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, is commonly used as a relapse prevention medication in alcohol and opiate addiction, but its efficacy and the mechanisms underpinning its clinical usefulness are not well characterized. In the current study, we examined the effects of 50-mg naltrexone compared with placebo on neural network changes associated with substance dependence in 21 alcohol and 36 poly-drug-dependent individuals compared with 36 healthy volunteers. Graph theoretic and network-based statistical analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data revealed that alcohol-dependent subjects had reduced functional connectivity of a dispersed network compared with both poly-drug-dependent and healthy subjects. Higher local efficiency was observed in both patient groups, indicating clustered and segregated network topology and information processing. Naltrexone normalized heightened local efficiency of the neural network in alcohol-dependent individuals, to the same levels as healthy volunteers. Naltrexone failed to have an effect on the local efficiency in abstinent poly-substance-dependent individuals. Across groups, local efficiency was associated with substance, but no alcohol exposure implicating local efficiency as a potential premorbid risk factor in alcohol use disorders that can be ameliorated by naltrexone. These findings suggest one possible mechanism for the clinical effects of naltrexone, namely, the amelioration of disrupted network topology.
Date Issued
2017-02-28
Date Acceptance
2017-02-05
Citation
Addiction Biology, 2017, 23 (1), pp.425-436
ISSN
1369-1600
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
425
End Page
436
Journal / Book Title
Addiction Biology
Volume
23
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2017 The Authors. Addiction Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Grant Number
G1000018
Subjects
Addiction
alcohol
cocaine
naltrexone
opiate
substance use
ICCAM Consortium
11 Medical And Health Sciences
17 Psychology And Cognitive Sciences
Substance Abuse
Publication Status
Published