Naltrexone Is Associated With Reduced Drinking by Alcohol Dependent Patients Receiving Antidepressants for Mood and Anxiety Symptoms: Results From VA Cooperative Study No. 425, "Naltrexone in the Treatment of Alcoholism"
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles). 7 Dec 2007

It is not clear whether naltrexone is effective in reducing alcohol consumption among patients with clinically significant mood symptoms and whether naltrexone favorably interacts with antidepressant medications when they are co-prescribed.

In patients randomized to placebo (n = 209), prescription of antidepressants was associated with a significantly higher percentage of drinking days . Although the group of patients receiving naltrexone (n = 418) was larger than the group assigned to placebo, there were no significant differences in drinking-related outcomes in the groups who did or did not receive antidepressants . Among the group of patients receiving antidepressants, naltrexone prescription was associated with a reduction in the percent drinking days compared to placebo .

Further investigation will be needed to determine whether naltrexone is efficacious among depressed alcohol dependent patients and whether naltrexone and antidepressant medications show interactive efficacy for treating alcohol dependence.

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