Anti-smoking Drug Decreases Alcohol Consumption
in Heavy-drinking Smokers
Source: UCSF press release
Date: May 2, 2012
The smoking cessation drug varenicline significantly
reduced alcohol consumption in a group of
heavy-drinking smokers, in a study carried out by
researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research
Center at the University of California, San
Francisco.
“Alcohol abuse is a huge problem, and this is a
big step forward in identifying a potential new
treatment,” said senior author Howard L. Fields, MD,
PhD, professor of neurology and director of the Wheeler
Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UCSF.
The study was published on May 1 in the journal
Psychopharmacology.
Study participants, who were seeking treatment for
smoking and not for drinking, were randomly assigned to
take either varenicline or a placebo. By the end of the
study, participants assigned to varenicline had reduced
their average number of drinks per week by 36 percent
compared to those taking placebo.
The scientists found no correlation between the
average number of drinks consumed per week by each
subject and the average number of cigarettes they
smoked, indicating that varenicline’s effects on
drinking behavior were separate from its effects on
smoking.
While they cautioned that additional study was
needed to further examine potential side effects, the
scientists said they are optimistic about the potential
of varenicline as a treatment for heavy drinking.
“The drug is already widely used by smokers to help
them quit,” said Fields. “Many heavy drinkers also
smoke, and this study indicated that, in this group,
varenicline was effective in reducing both the number
of cigarettes smoked and the number of drinks
consumed.
”Interestingly, in the study, varenicline did not
change the number of times per week that subjects
drank, said lead author Jennifer Mitchell, PhD,
clinical project director at the Gallo Center and an
adjunct assistant professor of neurology at UCSF.
“People initiated drinking at the same rate, but they
drank less once they started,” she said. “If your
usual pattern was to come home and have a few beers,
you would still do that, but you might have one or two
instead of four or five.
”A medication that reliably decreases alcohol
consumption would be of immense value in reducing the
harm caused by alcohol abuse, Mitchell said. “If you
currently drink seven drinks a night, and we can turn
that into two or three, then you’re not only drinking
at a level that’s going to harm you less, you’re
less likely to harm others, as well. If we could lower
the rates of drunk driving, spousal and child abuse and
other secondary effects of alcoholism, that would be
tremendous.
”They noted that the study corroborates earlier
Gallo Center research indicating that alcohol and
nicotine act through a common pathway in regions of the
brain that provide a sense of pleasure and reward.
Varenicline acts as a smoking cessation aid by blocking
the pleasant effects of nicotine in the brain.
Few unpleasant or serious side effects were
reported, suggesting that the drug can be well
tolerated, said Fields. However, the scientists
cautioned that the absence of significant side effects
might have occurred because subjects were rigorously
screened for mental health disorders such as
depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, as well as
alcoholism, before the study began. They recommended
that the drug be tested for safety and effectiveness in
populations with comorbid psychiatric conditions, as
well as in treatment-seeking alcohol abusers who do not
smoke.
Varenicline is marketed by Pfizer Inc. under the
brand name Chantix. The company donated the drug for
the study, but did not fund or participate in any part
of the research. The scientists have no conflicts of
interest with the company.
Co-authors are Candice H. Teague of the Gallo Center
and Andrew S. Kayser, MD, and Selena E. Bartlett, PhD,
of the Gallo Center and UCSF.
The study was supported by funds from the National
Institutes of Health and by funds provided by the State
of California for medical research on alcohol and
substance abuse through UCSF.
The UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research
Center is one of the world’s preeminent academic
centers for the study of the biological basis of
alcohol and substance use disorders. Gallo Center
discoveries of potential molecular targets for the
development of therapeutic medications are extended
through preclinical and proof-of-concept clinical
studies.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting
health worldwide through advanced biomedical research,
graduate-level education in the life sciences and
health professions, and excellence in patient care.
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Psychopharmacology Research Paper – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22547331.
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