Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2008 Jul;32(7):1159-66.
doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00735.x.

Effects of opioid receptor gene variation on targeted nalmefene treatment in heavy drinkers

Albert J Arias  1 , Stephen Armeli, Joel Gelernter, Jonathan Covault, Antero Kallio, Sakari Karhuvaara, Tiina Koivisto, Rauno Mäkelä, Henry R Kranzler
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Effects of opioid receptor gene variation on targeted nalmefene treatment in heavy drinkers

Albert J Arias et al. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2008 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Recent studies examining the moderating effects of polymorphic variation in opioid receptor genes have yielded conflicting results. We examined opioid receptor gene polymorphisms as moderators of the therapeutic effects of the opioid antagonist nalmefene.

Methods: Participants (n = 272) were subjects who consented to the pharmacogenetic analysis of a multi-site, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of targeted nalmefene for the reduction of heavy drinking. We genotyped two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in OPRM1 (including A118G, a commonly studied SNP that encodes an Asn40Asp amino acid substitution), two SNPs in OPRD1, and one SNP in OPRK1, which encode the mu-, delta-, and kappa-opioid receptors, respectively. Regression analysis served to examine the moderating effects of these SNPs on medication response.

Results: As previously described by Karhuvaara et al. (2007), nalmefene significantly reduced the number of heavy drinking and very heavy drinking days per week, compared with placebo. There were no main or moderating effects of the genotypes examined on these outcomes.

Conclusions: Our finding that the therapeutic effects of targeted nalmefene were not moderated by polymorphic variation in opioid receptor genes is consistent with two recent reports showing that variation in opioid receptor genes does not moderate the response to naltrexone. However, these findings contrast with those from two other studies, in which the Asn40Asp polymorphism in OPRM1 moderated the naltrexone treatment response. Additional research is needed to clarify the role of variation in opioid receptor genes on the response to opioid antagonist treatment of alcoholism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Anton RF, O'Malley SS, Ciraulo DA, 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 A. Combined pharmacotherapies and behavioral interventions for alcohol dependence: the COMBINE study: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2006;295:2003–2017. - PubMed
    1. Anton RF, Oroszi G, O'Malley S, Couper D, Swift R, Pettinati H, Goldman D. 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. 2008;65:135–144. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anton RF, Pettinati H, Zweben A, Kranzler HR, Johnson B, Bohn MJ, McCaul ME, Anthenelli R, Salloum I, Galloway G, Garbutt J, Swift R, Gastfriend D, Kallio A, Karhuvaara S. A multi-site dose ranging study of nalmefene in the treatment of alcohol dependence. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2004;24:421–428. - PubMed
    1. Arias A, Feinn R, Kranzler HR. Association of an Asn40Asp (A118G) polymorphism in the mu-opioid receptor gene with substance dependence: a meta-analysis. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2006;83:262–268. - PubMed
    1. Bauer LO, Covault J, Harel O, Das S, Gelernter J, Anton R, Kranzler HR. Variation in GABRA2 predicts drinking behavior in project MATCH subjects. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2008;31:1780–1787. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types