Low μ-Opioid Receptor Status in Alcohol Dependence Identified by Combined Positron Emission Tomography and Post-Mortem Brain Analysis

• Published in: Neuropsychopharmacology (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 606 - 614
• Main Authors: Hermann, Derik, Hirth, Natalie, Reimold, Matthias, Batra, Anil, Smolka, Michael N, Hoffmann, Sabine, Kiefer, Falk, Noori, Hamid R, Sommer, Wolfgang H, Reischl, Gerald, la Fougère, Christian, Mann, Karl, Spanagel, Rainer, Hansson, Anita C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.02.2017
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alcoholism - diagnostic imaging; Alcoholism - metabolism; Analgesics, Opioid - metabolism; Fentanyl - analogs & derivatives; Fentanyl - metabolism; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Naltrexone - administration & dosage; Naltrexone - pharmacology; Narcotic Antagonists - administration & dosage; Narcotic Antagonists - pharmacology; Original; Positron-Emission Tomography; Receptors, Opioid, mu - genetics; Receptors, Opioid, mu - metabolism; Tissue Banks; Ventral Striatum - diagnostic imaging; Ventral Striatum - metabolism

Blockade of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) by naltrexone reduces relapse risk in a subpopulation of alcohol-dependent patients. Previous positron-emission-tomography (PET) studies using the MOR ligand [ C]carfentanil have found increased MOR availability in abstinent alcoholics, which may reflect eithe...