Mechanism of Action
Naltrexone and its active metabolite 6-β-naltrexol are competitive antagonists at μ- and κ-opioid receptors, and to a lesser extent at δ-opioid receptors. The plasma half-life of naltrexone is about 4 h, for 6-β-naltrexol 13 h. The blockade of opioid receptors is the basis behind its action in the management of opioid dependence—it reversibly blocks or attenuates the effects of opioids.
Its use in alcohol (ethanol) dependence has been studied and has been shown to be effective. Its mechanism of action in this indication is not fully understood, but as an opioid-receptor antagonist is likely to be due to the modulation of the dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway which is hypothesized to be a major center of the reward associated with addiction (being one of the primary centers for risk-reward analysis in the brain, and a tertiary "pleasure center") that all major drugs of abuse are believed to activate.
Read more about this topic: Naltrexone
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“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
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—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)
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