Nalmefene is an opioid antagonist, which is used for counteracting the effects of opioid drugs such as morphine and heroin. More interestingly, nalmefene has been found beneficial in the treatment of pathological gambling (1), and has been implicated in the treatment of alcoholism. Nalmefene was found to prevent relapse in alchohol dependent patients (2), but according to the Cochrane database, current data is not sufficient to warrant the use of nalmefene in alcohol dependence, whereas naltrexone, another opioid antagonist, has been found to be effective in the short-term treatment of alcohol dependence (3).

Nalmefene solution (Revex ^®) is currently used for reversal of opioid drug effects after general anesthesia and drug overdose.  Revex ^®  is administered intravenously, intramuscularly or subcutaneously.

(1) Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Feb;163(2):303-12. Multicenter investigation of the opioid antagonist nalmefene in the treatment of pathological gambling. Grant JE, Potenza MN, Hollander E, Cunningham-Williams R, Nurminen T, Smits G, Kallio A.

(2) Mason BJ, et al. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of oral nalmefene for alcohol dependence. Arch Gen Psychiatry August 1999;56:719-24.

(3) Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005 Jan 25;(1):CD001867