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Dosing Issues in the Pharmacotherapy of Alcoholism
Author(s) -
Mason Barbara J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1996.tb01184.x
Subject(s) - desipramine , dosing , alcohol use disorder , alcohol , medicine , alcohol dependence , craving , psychiatry , antidepressant , pharmacotherapy , alcohol abuse , drug , depression (economics) , pharmacology , addiction , anxiety , chemistry , macroeconomics , economics , biochemistry
Pharmacological treatments for alcohol dependence have focused increasingly on agents that reduce alcohol craving and consumption or that treat psychiatric disorders associated with drinking relapse. Clinicians who treat alcohol-dependent patients must find the optimal dose of these agents to maximize response. Determining the best dosing strategy has been the goal of recent treatment studies with alcohol-dependent patients. One study, for example, showed that an opiate antagonist medication had a dose-dependent relationship with patient outcome and retention in treatment. Another dosing consideration involves the effect of long-term alcohol abuse on drug metabolism (e.g., when treating alcohol-dependent patients for comorbid psychiatric disorders). This was demonstrated in a study of recently abstinent patients who were taking the antidepressant desipramine for major depression. Alcohol-dependent patients had higher hepatic enzyme activities and lower plasma levels of desipramine relative to oral dose than did a comparison group of depressed patients without an alcohol use disorder.