Dear Dr. Eskapa,

I did the DNA testing and got the discouraging news that I am a AA type regarding the OPRM1 gene. According to their testing using this as a marker/indicator, I have 5 times less of a chance of having a good clinical outcome than other genotypes GG and AG. Do you have any information on the validity of this test and its relevance to TSM?

Thanks for your help.

Best

Hi, Nalwayout, I found your topic interesting since I had never heard of these tests and stuff. Could you please indicate me any site for learning about that?

Oh, I see you're on line right now. Lets chat in that chat room!

Hi LW,

I'm not seeing where to get into a chat room. But if you go to www.23andme.com and look under drug response you will see "Naltrexone treatment response listed" if you select it, you'll be able to read all about it. I did this DNA testing and ended up finding that I am a AA genotype, the least favorable. (

Hi there,

Looking at your progress, it's clear that you don't need to be told this, but I thought I would share so as to hopefully prevent others from becoming discouraged. There is a more recent study that was published and found that OPRM1 genotype DOES NOT predict responsiveness to nal. The original study was retrospective. I cannot say why there are differences between results found in the two studies, but I can tell you that retrospective studies can very easily find correlations that have nothing to do with causation. They could have checked hundreds of targets, found this one to correlate, and were able to publish it because it was in a gene with a known link to addiction. It doesn't mean that it's actually causative though, could be a coincidence.

Just for fun I am going to sequence my OPRM1 gene anyway

Here is the new study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21946895