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Naloxone-ethanol interaction in experimental and clinical situations
Acta Pharmacologica Et Toxicologica
|April 1, 1984
Summary
Naloxone did not significantly counteract alcohol intoxication in healthy volunteers or alcohol-dependent patients. These findings suggest that naloxone has no clinical use for treating alcohol intoxication, as its effects are not mediated by opioid mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Ethanol (alcohol) intoxication impairs psychomotor performance.
- The role of central opioid mechanisms in ethanol's effects is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of naloxone, an opioid antagonist, on ethanol-induced psychomotor impairment.
- To determine if naloxone has clinical significance in counteracting alcohol intoxication.
Main Methods:
- Three placebo-controlled, double-blind trials were conducted.
- Healthy volunteers received intravenous naloxone (0.4 and 2.0 mg) or placebo before or after ethanol administration (1.0 and 1.5 g/kg).
- Alcohol-intoxicated out-patients received naloxone or saline.
Main Results:
- Naloxone alone did not affect psychomotor performance in healthy volunteers.
- Ethanol dose-dependently impaired various psychomotor functions.
- Naloxone slightly reduced ethanol-induced nystagmus but did not significantly antagonize other alcohol effects.
- Naloxone treatment showed no counteraction of alcohol inebriation in clinical patients.
Conclusions:
- Naloxone has no clinically significant effect in antagonizing ethanol intoxication.
- The psychomotor impairing effects of ethanol are not primarily mediated by central opioid mechanisms.