Effect of naltrexone treatment on insulin secretion, insulin action and postprandial thermogenesis in obesity

For many years a series of studies has been carried out to evaluate the role of endogenous opioid peptides on glucose metabolism. In this work we studied the influence of endogenous opioid peptides on insulin response to OGTT and glucose-induced thermogenesis before and after a prolonged oral treatment with Naltrexone (50 mg/daily for 6 days), an opioid receptor antagonist, in a group of 9 obese subjects. Moreover in obese patients we evaluated the effect of this anti-opioid drug on insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity during an IVGTT using the minimal model approach. We compared the pre-treatment results with data coming from a group of 5 normal-weight subjects. We measured blood glucose, plasma insulin and C-peptide concentrations and evaluated the following parameters: first (phi 1) and second (phi 2) phase of beta-cell sensitivity, insulin sensitivity and glucose effectiveness. Obese subjects displayed an increased insulin response to oral and i.v. glucose load, due to an increased first phase of insulin secretion (phi 1), a reduced insulin sensitivity (Si) and glucose effectiveness (Sg) in respect to normal-weight subjects. They showed no difference in glucose and insulin area during oral load and in their profiles during i.v. glucose load after naltrexone treatment. Similarly no significant variation in insulin sensitivity and glucose effectiveness was observed. The glucose-induced thermogenesis, measured by indirect calorimetry, was not modified by naltrexone. Therefore our study demonstrates that endogenous opioids do not play any role in the impairment of peripheral insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure in human obesity.