Abstract
Introduction. According to a recent pharmacogenetic study, patients with alcohol dependence (AD) who have one or two 118G alleles (G carriers) respond better to naltrexone than those who have the A/A genotype of the A118G mu opioid receptor (G non-carriers). This study was conducted to prospectively investigate the relationship between genotype and response to open label naltrexone treatment in Korean subjects with AD. Methods. Sixty-three subjects with AD were prescribed naltrexone for 12 weeks in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy. Thirty-two subjects were adherent and took the medication on at least 80% of the treatment days (16 G carriers and 16 G non-carriers). Results. The G carriers adherent to the naltrexone treatment took a significantly longer time than the G non-carriers (p = 0.014). The G carriers treated with naltrexone had a 10.6 times greater relapse rate than G non-carriers (p = 0.072). Conclusions. These results demonstrate a higher therapeutic effect of naltrexone in Korean subjects with AD who have one or two 118G alleles compared to those who have the A/A genotype. Considering that Asians are more frequent G carriers for the A118G mu opioid receptor polymorphism than Caucasians, naltrexone might be more effective for treating AD in Asians than Caucasians.
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