Reports, Vol. 8, Pages 174: Combined Naltrexone–Bupropion Therapy for Concurrent Cocaine Use Disorder and Obesity: A Case Report

Reports doi: 10.3390/reports8030174

Authors:
Vincenzo Maria Romeo

Background and Clinical Significance: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is characterized by recurrent, cue-triggered and intrusive urges to use cocaine (craving), compulsive drug-seeking despite adverse consequences, and impaired control over intake, often co-occurring with excess weight and hedonic overeating. A dual-target rationale supports the fixed-dose naltrexone–bupropion (NB) combination: μ-opioid receptor (MOR) antagonism may mitigate opioid-facilitated mesolimbic reinforcement, while bupropion’s catecholaminergic effects and POMC activation support satiety and weight loss. Case Presentation: We describe a case study from an Italian outpatient setting of a 35-year-old man with a 10-year history of CUD, multiple failed detoxifications, and class I obesity (body mass index [BMI] 31 kg/m2) who initiated fixed-dose NB and was followed for 12 weeks under routine care. NB was associated with progressive attenuation of cue-reactive cocaine craving and improved appetite control, alongside clinically meaningful weight reduction, without psychiatric destabilization or emergent safety concerns; medication adherence remained stable. The patient maintained abstinence throughout follow-up and reported improved psychosocial functioning. Quantitatively, CCQ-B scores decreased from 7.2 at baseline to 2.1 at Week 12 (≈70% reduction), while BMI decreased from 31.0 to 25.5 kg/m2 (≈−17.7%), with clinically meaningful weight loss and stable adherence. Conclusions: This case study supports the mechanistic rationale that dual NB therapy can simultaneously attenuate cocaine craving and facilitate weight control, addressing two clinically relevant targets in CUD. Although evidence for NB in CUD remains limited and mixed across stimulant populations, this observation highlights a plausible, testable therapeutic hypothesis that integrates mesolimbic and hypothalamic pathways and may inform the design of controlled trials in patients with co-occurring CUD and obesity.

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