Pharmacogenetic Response to Naltrexone For Alcohol Dependence

The aims of the study are to test for treatment outcome differences in alcohol dependent subjects randomly assigned to 12 weeks of treatment with NTX (50mg/day) or placebo among those with one or two copies of the Asp40 allele of the mu-opioid receptor compared to those homozygous for the Asn40 allele. Thus, the design of the study is a 2X2 cell double-blind randomization to NTX or placebo stratified by genotype. To meet these aims, 150 alcohol dependent outpatients with one or two copies of the Asp40 variant of the mu-opioid receptor and 190 subjects homozygous for the Asn40 variant will be recruited across the four participating sites.