Low-Dose naltrexone in diseases’ treatment : global review

Abstract

ABSTRACT – Naltrexone is a non - selective opioid antagonist, which shows effects on delta, mu and kappa rece ptors. Its therapeutic use is designed for drug addicts’ treatment, reducing withdrawal side effects. However, several researchers have used low - dose Naltrexone (LDN) for therapeutic purposes in diseases associated to immune system deficiency and inflammat ory and tumor processes. Consequently , enhance evidences that LDN use hypothesis promotes, through a compensation mechanism, an increase of endorphins and enkephalins, in addition to opioid receptors up - regulation mechanis m, in Central Nervous System (CNS) , becoming it a potentially effective clinical practice in these pathologies. Thus, we present a review about LDN use in different pathologies, all they published in literature, and its therapeutic effects, enabling us to conclude that 3.0 - 4.5mg/day dose u se in humans is effective for idiopathic diseases with alterations in immune system, as well as those ones with inflammatory and tumor characteristics