Naltrexone for alcohol use disorder: Hepatic safety in patients with and without liver disease

Naltrexone is an approved drug for management of alcohol use disorder (AUD), but data in patients with liver disease (LD) are limited. We aimed to evaluate the safety of naltrexone in those with LD. This is a retrospective cohort of adults with and without LD who were prescribed naltrexone for AUD from 2015 to 2019 in a safety‐net setting. Naltrexone hepatic safety was determined by liver enzyme changes during and after compared to before naltrexone prescription as well as rates of subsequent hospitalization and death by Kaplan‐Meier methods. Factors associated with hospitalization were examined by Cox regression. Of 160 patients prescribed naltrexone for AUD, 100 (63%) had LD and 47 (47%) of those with LD had cirrhosis (47% decompensated). The total cohort, LD, and cirrhosis groups had lower adjusted mean aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels after versus before naltrexone prescription (p < 0.001). Two‐year survival was 97.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 84.6–99.7), 95.4% (95% CI, 82.8–98.8), 90.8% (95% CI, 73.5–97.0), and 81.3% (95% CI, 41.2–93.8) in those without LD, LD without cirrhosis, cirrhosis, and decompensated cirrhosis groups (p = 0.46), respectively. Alcohol‐related 2‐year hospitalization rates were 8.2% (95% CI, 2.7–24), 27.7% (95% CI, 16.6–44.0), 40.5% (95% CI, 24.8–61.6), and 41.7% (95% CI, 23.3–66.6) for the groups without LD, LD without cirrhosis, cirrhosis, and decompensated cirrhosis (p = 0.007), respectively. Independent predictors of subsequent hospitalization were LD, (hazard ratio [HR], 3.70; 95% CI, 1.19–11.51; p = 0.02), cirrhosis (HR, 5.16; 95% CI, 1.69–15.75), and shorter duration (≤30 days) of naltrexone prescription (HR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.l2–5.20; p = 0.01). Conclusion: Naltrexone is safe to use in patients with underlying LD, including those with compensated cirrhosis. Although encouraging, more safety data are needed for those with decompensated cirrhosis.