Naltrexone Hydrochloride

NALTREXONE HYDROCHLORIDE — naltrexone hydrochloride tablet, film coated
Physicians Total Care, Inc.

Iss. 5/2009

11001470

0902

Rx only

DESCRIPTION

Naltrexone hydrochloride, an opioid antagonist, is a synthetic congener of oxymorphone with no opioid agonist properties. Naltrexone hydrochloride differs in structure from oxymorphone in that the methyl group on the nitrogen atom is replaced by a cyclopropylmethyl group. Naltrexone hydrochloride is also related to the potent opioid antagonist, naloxone, or n-allylnoroxymorphone. The chemical name for naltrexone hydrochloride is Morphinan-6-one, 17-(cyclopropylmethyl)-4,5-epoxy-3,14-dihydroxy-, hydrochloride, (5α)-. The structural formula is as follows:

C₂₀ H₂₃ NO₄ •HCl Molecular Weight: 377.87

Naltrexone hydrochloride is a white, crystalline compound. The hydrochloride salt is soluble in water to the extent of about 100 mg/mL. Each tablet, for oral administration, contains 50 mg of naltrexone hydrochloride. In addition, each tablet contains the following inactive ingredients: colloidal silicon dioxide, crospovidone, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, polysorbate 80, synthetic red iron oxide, synthetic yellow iron oxide and titanium dioxide.

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY

Pharmacodynamic Actions

Naltrexone hydrochloride is a pure opioid antagonist. It markedly attenuates or completely blocks, reversibly, the subjective effects of intravenously administered opioids.

When co-administered with morphine, on a chronic basis, naltrexone blocks the physical dependence to morphine, heroin and other opioids.

Naltrexone has few, if any, intrinsic actions besides its opioid blocking properties. However, it does produce some pupillary constriction, by an unknown mechanism.

The administration of naltrexone is not associated with the development of tolerance or dependence. In subjects physically dependent on opioids, naltrexone will precipitate withdrawal symptomatology.

Clinical studies indicate that 50 mg of naltrexone hydrochloride will block the pharmacologic effects of 25 mg of intravenously administered heroin for periods as long as 24 hours. Other data suggest that doubling the dose of naltrexone hydrochloride provides blockade for 48 hours, and tripling the dose of naltrexone hydrochloride provides blockade for about 72 hours.

Naltrexone blocks the effects of opioids by competitive binding (i.e., analogous to competitive inhibition of enzymes) at opioid receptors. This makes the blockade produced potentially surmountable, but overcoming full naltrexone blockade by administration of very high doses of opiates has resulted in excessive symptoms of histamine release in experimental subjects.

The mechanism of action of naltrexone in alcoholism is not understood; however, involvement of the endogenous opioid system is suggested by preclinical data. Naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, competitively binds to such receptors and may block the effects of endogenous opioids. Opioid antagonists have been shown to reduce alcohol consumption by animals, and naltrexone has been shown to reduce alcohol consumption in clinical studies.

Naltrexone is not aversive therapy and does not cause a disulfiram-like reaction either as a result of opiate use or ethanol ingestion.

Pharmacokinetics

Naltrexone is a pure opioid receptor antagonist. Although well absorbed orally, naltrexone is subject to significant first pass metabolism with oral bioavailability estimates ranging from 5 to 40%. The activity of naltrexone is believed to be due to both parent and the 6-ß-naltrexol metabolite. Both parent drug and metabolites are excreted primarily by the kidney (53% to 79% of the dose), however, urinary excretion of unchanged naltrexone accounts for less than 2% of an oral dose and fecal excretion is a minor elimination pathway. The mean elimination half-life (T-1/2) values for naltrexone and 6-ß-naltrexol are 4 hours and 13 hours, respectively. Naltrexone and 6-ß-naltrexol are dose proportional in terms of AUC and C_max over the range of 50 to 200 mg and do not accumulate after 100 mg daily doses.

Absorption

Following oral administration, naltrexone undergoes rapid and nearly complete absorption with approximately 96% of the dose absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Peak plasma levels of both naltrexone and 6-ß-naltrexol occur within one hour of dosing.

Distribution

The volume of distribution for naltrexone following intravenous administration is estimated to be 1350 liters. In vitro tests with human plasma show naltrexone to be 21% bound to plasma proteins over the therapeutic dose range.

Metabolism

The systemic clearance (after intravenous administration) of naltrexone is ~ 3.5 L/min, which exceeds liver blood flow (~ 1.2 L/min). This suggests both that naltrexone is a highly extracted drug (>98% metabolized) and that extra-hepatic sites of drug metabolism exist. The major metabolite of naltrexone is 6-ß-naltrexol. Two other minor metabolites are 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-6-ß-naltrexol and 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-naltrexone. Naltrexone and its metabolites are also conjugated to form additional metabolic products.

Elimination

The renal clearance for naltrexone ranges from 30 to 127 mL/min and suggests that renal elimination is primarily by glomerular filtration. In comparison the renal clearance for 6-ß-naltrexol ranges from 230 to 369 mL/min, suggesting an additional renal tubular secretory mechanism. The urinary excretion of unchanged naltrexone accounts for less than 2% of an oral dose; urinary excretion of unchanged and conjugated 6-ß-naltrexol accounts for 43% of an oral dose. The pharmacokinetic profile of naltrexone suggests that naltrexone and its metabolites may undergo enterohepatic recycling.

Hepatic and Renal Impairment

Naltrexone appears to have extra-hepatic sites of drug metabolism and its major metabolite undergoes active tubular secretion (see Metabolism above). Adequate studies of naltrexone in patients with severe hepatic or renal impairment have not been conducted (see PRECAUTIONS, Special Risk Patients).

Clinical Trials

Alcoholism:

The efficacy of naltrexone as an aid to the treatment of alcoholism was tested in placebo-controlled, outpatient, double blind trials. These studies used a dose of naltrexone hydrochloride 50 mg once daily for 12 weeks as an adjunct to social and psychotherapeutic methods when given under conditions that enhanced patient compliance. Patients with psychosis, dementia, and secondary psychiatric diagnoses were excluded from these studies.

In one of these studies, 104 alcohol-dependent patients were randomized to receive either naltrexone hydrochloride 50 mg once daily or placebo. In this study, naltrexone proved superior to placebo in measures of drinking including abstention rates (51% vs. 23%), number of drinking days, and relapse (31% vs. 60%). In a second study with 82 alcohol-dependent patients, the group of patients receiving naltrexone were shown to have lower relapse rates (21% vs. 41%), less alcohol craving, and fewer drinking days compared with patients who received placebo, but these results depended on the specific analysis used.

The clinical use of naltrexone as adjunctive pharmacotherapy for the treatment of alcoholism was also evaluated in a multicenter safety study. The study of 865 individuals with alcoholism included patients with comorbid psychiatric conditions, concomitant medications, polysubstance abuse and HIV disease. Results of this study demonstrated that the side effect profile of naltrexone appears to be similar in both alcoholic and opioid dependent populations, and that serious side effects are uncommon.

In the clinical studies, treatment with naltrexone supported abstinence, prevented relapse and decreased alcohol consumption. In the uncontrolled study, the patterns of abstinence and relapse were similar to those observed in the controlled studies. Naltrexone was not uniformly helpful to all patients, and the expected effect of the drug is a modest improvement in the outcome of conventional treatment.