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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2021, 23, N3 (pages: 23 - 27)

Follow-up of serum naltrexone levels after naltrexone implant in opioid use disorder

Kulaksızoğlu B., Erdoğan A., Cinemre B., Topcuoğlu M., Coşkun M.N., Özdemir M., Bingöl M.S., and Kuloğlu M.M.

Summary: Background: The aim of this study has been to analyse serum naltrexone (NTX) in patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) after they had been treated with a naltrexone implant (NTX-XR), to see if that serum NTX subsequently reached therapeutic levels (≥ 2 ng/ml).Methods: 15 OUD patients, during their hospitalization at the Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Research Application Centre (AMBAUM) between February 2018 and June 2019, had subcutaneous NTX-XR 1000 mg administered to them in 12-week depot form, and their blood serum NTX levels were measured at regular intervals. Results: The mean age of the study group, which consisted entirely of males, was 27.53±7.15. The mean blood serum NTX levels after NTX-XR application were found to be 0.51±1.92 ng/ml on the day of administration and 7.88±4.91 ng/ml, 6.76±3.18 ng/ml, 2.75±2.59 ng/ml after the first, second and third months, respectively. During the three months following the administration of the NTX-XR serum, our measurements showed that NTX levels stayed above the theraupetic threshold. Moreover, according to the monthly urine toxicology results, patients tested negative for opioids at the end of each of those three months. Conclusions: Therapeutic levels of serum NTX were achieved through NTX-XR. We argue that NTX-XR is likely to be an effective and safe option for the treatment of OUD.