Naltrexone and Brief Counseling to Reduce Heavy Drinking

Naltrexone (NTX) has been shown to be safe and effective in reducing relapses among alcoholics. Among nondependent heavy drinkers, who are more numerous in the general population than are alcohol-dependent drinkers, brief counseling has been shown to reduce alcohol consumption. The authors conducted a 6-week randomized study of the effects of adding 25-mg or 50-mg daily doses of NTX to brief counseling in 14 nondependent heavy drinkers. NTX was well-tolerated. Desire for alcohol, drinking frequency, frequency of heavy drinking, total alcohol consumption, and serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase all decreased significantly during treatment. A placebo-controlled trial is warranted to evaluate further the efficacy of NTX in this group of problem drinkers.