Daily Naltrexone Use Does Not Adversely Affect Physical, Cognitive or Marksmanship Performance in U.S. Army Soldiers.
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Issue Date
2024-02-27
Authors
Carreno-Davidson, Jamie T
Castellani, Colleen M
Carreno, Joseph J
DeLuca, Jesse P
Selig, Daniel J
Vuong, Chau V
Pasiakos, Stefan M
Ritland, Bradley M
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Abstract
Introduction: Considering the potential of weaponized opioids, evaluating how prophylactic countermeasures affect military-relevant performance is necessary. Naltrexone is a commercially available Food and Drug Administration-approved medication that blocks the effects of opioids with minimal side effects. However, the effects of naltrexone on the health and performance of non-substance abusing military personnel are not well described in the existing literature.
Methods: Active duty U.S. Army Soldiers (n = 16, mean ± SD, age: 23.1 ± 5.3 y) completed a series of physical, cognitive, and marksmanship tasks during a 4-day pretrial, a 7-day active trial, and a 4-day post-trial phase. During the active trial, participants were administered 50 mg of oral naltrexone daily. Physiological and biological processes were monitored with a daily review of systems, sleep monitoring, biochemistry, and hematology blood panels.
Results: Naltrexone did not negatively affect physical performance, cognitive functioning, marksmanship, or sleep duration (P > 0.05). Improvements were observed during the active trial compared to the pretrial phase in cognitive tasks measuring logical relations (P = 0.05), matching to sample (P = 0.04), math speed (P < 0.01), math percent correct (P = 0.04), and spatial processing (P < 0.01). Results from biochemistry and hematology blood panels remained within clinically normative ranges throughout all phases of the study. No participants were medically withdrawn; however, one participant voluntarily withdrew due to nausea and reduced appetite.
Conclusions: Temporary (7-day) daily use of naltrexone was safe and did not negatively affect physical performance, cognitive functioning, marksmanship ability, or sleep in a healthy cohort of U.S. Army Soldiers.
Citation
Carreno-Davidson JT, Castellani CM, Carreno JJ, DeLuca JP, Selig DJ, Vuong CV, Pasiakos SM, Ritland BM. Daily Naltrexone Use Does Not Adversely Affect Physical, Cognitive or Marksmanship Performance in U.S. Army Soldiers. Mil Med. 2024 Feb 27;189(3-4):e515-e521. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad325. PMID: 37646761.
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