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Thursday, January 24, 2008

Effects of Topiramate on Urge to Drink and the Subjective Effects of Alcohol: A Preliminary Laboratory Study
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles) 22 Jan 2008

Topiramate was recently reported to be efficacious in reducing drinking rates and craving among individuals with alcohol dependence in a randomized controlled trial, but dose effects could not be determined.

This laboratory study systematically examined the dose-dependent effects of topiramate on cue-elicited craving and other putative mechanisms of its pharmacotherapeutic effects on drinking.

The results of this study support previous findings that topiramate reduces drinking, but the behavioral mechanism underlying this effect does not appear to be attenuation of craving for alcohol as measured using the approaches employed in this study. Rather, the results tentatively suggest that topiramate may exert its beneficial effects by altering the subjective experiences of alcohol consumption.

Limitations of the current study are discussed and complementary methods are recommended for future studies, such as the use of behavioral economic paradigms and ecological momentary assessment.

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