Randomized trial of long-acting sustained-release naltrexone implant vs oral naltrexone or placebo for preventing relapse to opioid dependence.

CONTEXT Sustained-release naltrexone implants may improve outcomes of nonagonist treatment of opioid addiction. OBJECTIVE To compare outcomes of naltrexone implants, oral naltrexone hydrochloride, and nonmedication treatment. DESIGN Six-month double-blind, double-dummy, randomized trial.

Single versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for people with heroin dependence.

A prior study found that one ketamine-assisted psychotherapy session was significantly more effective than active placebo in promoting abstinence (Krupitsky et al. 2002). In this study of the efficacy of single versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in promoting abstinence in people with heroin dependence, 59 detoxified inpatients with heroin dependence received a ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KPT) session prior to their discharge from an addiction treatment hospital, and were then randomized into two treatment groups.

Antiglutamatergic strategies for ethanol detoxification: comparison with placebo and diazepam.

Background: Benzodiazepines are the standard pharmacotherapies for ethanol detoxification, but concerns about their abuse potential and negative effects upon the transition to alcohol abstinence drive the search for new treatments. Glutamatergic activation and glutamate receptor up-regulation contribute to ethanol dependence and withdrawal. This study compared 3 antiglutamatergic strategies for ethanol detoxification with placebo and to the benzodiazepine, diazepam: the glutamate release inhibitor, lamotrigine; the N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor antagonist, memantine; and the AMPA/kainite receptor inhibitor, topiramate.

Effect of memantine on cue-induced alcohol craving in recovering alcohol-dependent patients.

Objective: Ethanol blocks N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) glutamate receptors. Increased NMDA receptor function may contribute to motivational disturbances that contribute to alcoholism. The authors assessed whether the NMDA receptor antagonist memantine reduces cue-induced alcohol craving and produces ethanol-like subjective effects.