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Pharmacologic treatments for alcohol dependence have modest efficacy and tolerability. These researchers conducted a double-blind, controlled trial of the alpha-1 adrenergic antagonist prazosin for alcohol dependence. The research was based on animal studies implicating noradrenergic circuits in alcohol consumption and reinforcement, prazosin-induced reductions in alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats (Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2009; 33:264), and anecdotal observations of reduced drinking in patients taking prazosin for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The researchers randomized 24 treatment-seeking patients (5 women) to placebo or prazosin for 6 weeks (doses titrated ≤16 mg/day, in divided doses); patients met criteria for alcohol dependence …