NEW COMBINATION DRUG TREATMENT SHOWS PROMISE for TREATING ALCOHOLICS WITH NEUROCHEMICAL ABNORMALITIES

(PRWEB) May 6, 2000

Embargoed until 4 p.m., Monday, May 15, 2000    San Antonio—(May 11, 2000) Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center uncover exciting preliminary evidence that a specific combination drug therapy is highly effective in treating alcoholics with neurochemical abnormalities, according to trial results published today (May 11) in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.    For decades, it has been known that for some alcoholism runs in the family, and that certain brain abnormalities may be transmitted. Typically, these alcoholics start drinking as youth, develop antisocial problems, and are the hardest to treat. Based on the hypothesis that these alcoholics have abnormalities of the serotonergic and opioid systems, Professor Bankole Johnson’s team showed that the combination of specific serotonergic (ondansetron) and opioid (naltrexone) medications resulted in improved drinking outcomes for 85% of alcoholics who got the medications versus 34% who had placebo. Although preliminary,this drug combination is highly promising for treating those with a biological predisposition for alcoholism, said Bankole Johnson, M.D., Ph.D. who is the William and Marguerite S. Wurzbach Distinguished Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, deputy chairman for research in the Department of Psychiatry and chief of the department’s Alcohol and Drug Addiction Division.Study participants were assigned to two groups of ten each, one receiving medication combination therapy and the other receiving a placebo (inactive agent). Results confirmed that participants using the medication intervention consumed four times fewer drinks per day than the placebo group. Participants were enrolled in weekly psychotherapy and measures designed to evaluate physical, social and mental well-being, and drinking.    Says Johnson: “The combination of ondansetron and naltrexone significantly reduced the alcohol consumption of these biological alcoholics, presumably by correcting underlying disequilibrium in the

serotonergic and opioid brain systems”. Sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Johnson’s team is planning follow up studies to establish these findings, and to determine if other types of alcoholic may also benefit from this treatment regimen. Using this combination of medications as the standard of treatment for severe alcoholics could be as few as four years away. “Ondansetron plus naltrexone appears to synergistically improve the drinking outcomes of these biologically predisposed alcoholics. Medications targeted towards the serotonin and opioid abnormalities of alcoholics produces a very large treatment response” explains Johnson. He notes that in the future, “we expect to be able to use molecular genetics to identify those at greatest risk for this the most severe form ofalcoholism even before they get it. And if they get it, we should be able to provide them with a highly effective therapy.” These findings may provide powerful treatment options for an important

subgroup of the 14 million Americans-1 in every 13 adults-who abuse alcohol or are alcoholics.