Copyright © 2000 by Institute of Pharmacology
Polish Academy of Sciences 		Pol. J. Pharmacol., 2000, 52, 397-402
ISSN 1230-6002
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SHORT COMMUNICATION
 AN OPIOID RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST, NALTREXONE, DOES NOT ALTER TASTE AND SMELL RESPONSES IN HUMANS
 Anna Ścińskaa,b, Eliza Korośd, Elżbieta Polanowskac, Andrzej Kukwaa, Anna Bogucka-Bonikowskad, Wojciech Kostowskid,f, Bogusław Habrate, Przemysław Bieńkowskib,d,#
 a Department of Otolaryngology, Warsaw Medical University, Warszawa, Poland,
b Clinical Psychopharmacology Laboratory, National Center of Sport Medicine, Warszawa, Poland,
c Astra-Zeneca, Clinical Research Unit Central Europe, Warszawa, Poland,
d Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Sobieskiego 1/9, PL 02-957 Warszawa, Poland,
e Department of Prevention and Treatment of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warszawa, Poland,
f Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Warsaw Medical University, Warszawa, Poland

An opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone, does not alter taste and smell responses in humans. A. ŚCIŃSKA, E. KOROŚ, E. POLANOWSKA, A. KUKWA, A. BOGUCKA-BONIKOWSKA, W. KOSTOWSKI, B. HABRAT, P. BIEŃKOWSKI. Pol. J. Pharmacol., 2000, 52, 397-402.

Several studies have shown that an opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone, decreases palatable food consumption. Naltrexone has also been reported to reduce ethanol intake in alcohol-preferring rodents and human alcoholics. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of naltrexone on taste and smell responses in healthy male volunteers. Naltrexone did not alter intensity and pleasantness of sucrose, quinine, citric acid, sodium chloride, and ethanol taste. Similarly, ratings of olfactory stimuli (orange extract and ethanol) and Coca-Cola flavor were not influenced by the opioid antagonist. Our findings may indicate that: (i) naltrexone exerts marginal, if any, effects on gustatory and olfactory responses in humans; (ii) the drug does not alter orosensory responses to ethanol.

Key words: opioids, naltrexone, taste, smell, pleasantness, intensity, ethanol, human
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