John D Roache1, Martina Pavlicova2, Aimee Campbell3, Tse-Hwei Choo4, Michelle Peavy5, Andrea S Kermack6, Edward V Nunes7, John Rotrosen8. 1. Division of Alcohol & Drug Addiction, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 2. Biostatistics Department, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA. 3. Division on Substance Use Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City, New York, USA. 4. Mental Health Data Science, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA. 5. Evergreen Treatment Services, Seattle, Washington. 6. Division of Substance Abuse, Departments of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, New York, USA. 7. Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City, New York, USA. 8. New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City, New York, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The comparative effectiveness of extended-release naltrexone versus buprenorphine-naloxone for opioid relapse prevention (X:BOT) trial showed that following induction, treatment with the sublingual agonist (buprenorphine-naloxone, BUP-NX) or injected antagonist (extended release naltrexone, XR-NTX) produced similar reductions in opioid relapse in injection users with opioid use disorder (OUD). Because XR-NTX reduces drinking in alcohol use disorder (AUD), we conducted a secondary analysis of the X:BOT sample of patients successfully inducted onto treatment to determine whether XR-NTX (n = 204) was superior to BUP-NX (n = 270) in reducing drinking or heavy drinking in patients with OUD. METHODS: Standard drink units consumed were measured using the Timeline Follow-back method. Mixed-models regression was used to examine the monthly frequency of any drinking and heavy drinking over 6 months of treatment. We used a proportional hazard survival analysis to examine the time to first drink. RESULTS: Both treatment groups reduced drinking from baseline to posttreatment (small to medium effect), but no differences between groups were detected. However, only 29% (n = 136) of the sample had AUD and 19% (n = 26/136) of those were abstinent before treatment. Analysis of a subsample enriched for possible drinking included 136 individuals with an AUD diagnosis plus 43 who did not have AUD, but reported at least one day of heavy drinking prior to the study. However, this subsample reported only 32% of days of any drinking with a median of only 13% of days designated as "heavy." Within this subsample, at baseline, the BUP-NX group reported more mean drinks per drinking day than the XR-NTX group (p = 0.03); however, there were no other significant group differences on drinking observed before, during, or at the end of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: There was an overall reduction in drinking during treatment of OUD using both agonist and antagonist medications, so that the hypothesis that XR-NTX would be superior to BUP-NX was not supported. The study is limited by low levels of comorbid AUD or heavy drinking observed in X:BOT trial participants seeking treatment for OUD.
BACKGROUND: The comparative effectiveness of extended-release naltrexone versus buprenorphine-naloxone for opioid relapse prevention (X:BOT) trial showed that following induction, treatment with the sublingual agonist (buprenorphine-naloxone, BUP-NX) or injected antagonist (extended release naltrexone, XR-NTX) produced similar reductions in opioid relapse in injection users with opioid use disorder (OUD). Because XR-NTX reduces drinking in alcohol use disorder (AUD), we conducted a secondary analysis of the X:BOT sample of patients successfully inducted onto treatment to determine whether XR-NTX (n = 204) was superior to BUP-NX (n = 270) in reducing drinking or heavy drinking in patients with OUD. METHODS: Standard drink units consumed were measured using the Timeline Follow-back method. Mixed-models regression was used to examine the monthly frequency of any drinking and heavy drinking over 6 months of treatment. We used a proportional hazard survival analysis to examine the time to first drink. RESULTS: Both treatment groups reduced drinking from baseline to posttreatment (small to medium effect), but no differences between groups were detected. However, only 29% (n = 136) of the sample had AUD and 19% (n = 26/136) of those were abstinent before treatment. Analysis of a subsample enriched for possible drinking included 136 individuals with an AUD diagnosis plus 43 who did not have AUD, but reported at least one day of heavy drinking prior to the study. However, this subsample reported only 32% of days of any drinking with a median of only 13% of days designated as "heavy." Within this subsample, at baseline, the BUP-NX group reported more mean drinks per drinking day than the XR-NTX group (p = 0.03); however, there were no other significant group differences on drinking observed before, during, or at the end of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: There was an overall reduction in drinking during treatment of OUD using both agonist and antagonist medications, so that the hypothesis that XR-NTX would be superior to BUP-NX was not supported. The study is limited by low levels of comorbid AUD or heavy drinking observed in X:BOT trial participants seeking treatment for OUD.
Authors: Joshua D Lee; Edward V Nunes; Patricia Novo; Ken Bachrach; Genie L Bailey; Snehal Bhatt; Sarah Farkas; Marc Fishman; Phoebe Gauthier; Candace C Hodgkins; Jacquie King; Robert Lindblad; David Liu; Abigail G Matthews; Jeanine May; K Michelle Peavy; Stephen Ross; Dagmar Salazar; Paul Schkolnik; Dikla Shmueli-Blumberg; Don Stablein; Geetha Subramaniam; John Rotrosen Journal: Lancet Date: 2017-11-14 Impact factor: 79.321