Alcohol craving is recognized as a possible endophenotype of addiction and has received substantial interest as a target for pharmacological interventions. Craving can be considered a trait phenomenon or enhanced or triggered by a variety of different cues including stress. At least one study has demonstrated that stress stressed induced craving has been associated with poor long-term outcomes in cocaine addicted individuals (Sinha et al., 2006). However, there are few studies examining the effects of alcohol craving on the impact of relapse. Studies of alcohol craving do suggest a strong relationship between alcohol craving, mood, and mu-OR binding in specific brain regions of recently abstinent, alcohol-dependent men (Bencherif et al., 2004). This result is interesting in that naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, has been demonstrated to reduce alcohol craving in clinical and laboratory studies (Palfai et al., 1999; Monterosso et al., 2001; Drobes et al., 2004).
