Purpose: The proposed 2-year investigation will be the first double-blind, placebo-controlled
trial examining the hedonic response to sweet taste (HRST) as a phenotypic predictor of
naltrexone (NTX) response in alcohol dependence. HRST yields two primary phenotypes-Sweet
Likers (SL) and Sweet Dislikers (SDL). Based on preliminary findings, HRST will be examined
in conjunction with craving for alcohol to assess whether the two factors together provide a
more robust predictor of NTX response. The identification of methods to predict naltrexone
response in alcohol dependence is an important goal for alcohol treatment research. Currently
naltrexone is not being used nearly as much as it should be, in part because clinicians do
not believe it is very effective. The development of tools that would identify which patients
are more likely to have a robust response to naltrexone should lead to increased use of the
medication. This could help many patients who are not now having the opportunity of trying
naltrexone.
There are two principal Specific Aims for the study:
Specific Aim 1. To test the hypothesis that a combination of SL/SDL status and initial
alcohol craving will predict % abstinent days (%ABST) during treatment with naltrexone.
Specific Aim 2. To test whether a combination of SL/SDL status and initial alcohol craving
predict % heavy drinking days (%HDD) during treatment with naltrexone.
Phase:
Phase 2
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Collaborators:
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) National Institutes of Health (NIH)