Posted by bobbyy on August 6, 2002, at 5:20:25
In reply to Tremendous strides with ondansetron , posted by ryan_s on August 5, 2002, at 21:37:01
wow..i am so happy for you..I never heard of the medication until I just read your post..so I just scanned pubmed...I am bipolar II and come from alcoholic genes...but don't drink..am searching for answers for my extreme anxiety and depression
...am on loads of meds...
so keep on searching...
found this which I found interesting..but again so happy for you...TAKE CARE ..BOBBY
Ondansetron reduces the craving of biologically predisposed alcoholics.Johnson BA, Roache JD, Ait-Daoud N, Zanca NA, Velazquez M.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas, Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd
Curl Drive, Mail Stop 7792, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA. bjohnson@uthscsa.eduRATIONALE: Early onset alcoholics (EOA) differ from late onset alcoholics (LOA) by having
greater serotonergic abnormality, familial history, and a range of antisocial behaviors. Previously,
we showed that ondansetron, a selective 5-HT3 antagonist, effectively treated EOA. Proximate
motivational drives such as craving could have determined drinking behavior. We therefore
investigated whether ondansetron treatment would reduce alcohol craving significantly among
EOA. OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that the craving outcomes of EOA, compared with
LOA, would be differentially improved by ondansetron. We also tested the prediction that craving
would be significantly correlated with drinking behavior. METHODS: We studied a cohort of 253
out of 321 enrolled alcohol dependent subjects. These 253 subjects were entered into a 1-week
lead-in single-blind placebo period followed by 11 weeks of double-blind outpatient treatment. Study
design was a 2 (EOA versus LOA)x 4 medication dose (placebo, or ondansetron 1, 4, or 16
microg/kg b.i.d)x 13 (visits) factorial analysis of variance. Craving was measured at each visit using
seven visual analogue scales. Subjects received 12 weekly sessions of standardized group cognitive
behavioral therapy. RESULTS: Data reduction by factor analysis of the visual analog scale items
yielded one dimension, overall craving. Ondansetron 4 microg/kg b.i.d. reduced overall craving
significantly among EOA. In contrast, ondansetron (1 microg/kg b.i.d.) increased craving
significantly in LOA. Decreased overall craving was positively correlated with reduced drinking and
negatively associated with increased abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with placebo,
ondansetron (4 microg/kg b.i.d.) was associated with significant reductions in overall craving in
EOA but not LOA, presumably by ameliorating serotonergic abnormality.
poster:bobbyy
thread:115356
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/115380.html