Pharmacotherapy for alcohol dependence: status of current treatments

  • Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2013 Aug;23(4):692-9. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.05.005.
Johan Franck  1 ,  Nitya Jayaram-Lindström
Affiliations
  • 1. Division of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. [email protected]
PMID: 23810221 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.05.005
Abstract

The efficacy of medications for alcohol dependence remains modest, and there are no strong clinical predictors of treatment response. Approved medications include acamprosate (an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA) modulator), disulfiram (an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor) and naltrexone (an opioid antagonist) while nalmefene (an opioid antagonist) is currently under review for approval in Europe. Clinical trials suggest that baclofen (a GABA-B agonist) and topiramate (an anticonvulsant) may be promising candidates, while several Other drug candidates are currently evaluated at early clinical stages.