Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Aug 1995
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialAssessment of nalmefene glucuronide as a selective gut opioid antagonist.
Opioid use often causes troublesome constipation as a side-effect. Selective antagonism of the intestinal actions of opioids might be useful in the treatment of opioid-induced constipation. ⋯ Oral nalmefene glucuronide precipitated symptoms and signs consistent with the opioid abstinence syndrome in all five subjects a mean of 9.0 h after dosing. We conclude that nalmefene glucuronide does not appear to exert sufficient gut selectivity to be useful in antagonizing constipation due to exogenous opioid administration without antagonizing systemic opioid effects.