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© 1998 Medical Council on Alcohol

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IMPROVED AUTONOMIC NEUROCARDIAL BALANCE IN SHORT-TERM ABSTINENT ALCOHOLICS TREATED WITH ACAMPROSATE

M. W. AGELINK*, W. LEMMER, R. MALESSA1, T. ZEIT, T. MAJEWSKI2 and E. KLIESER2

Department of Psychiatry, Evangelical Hospital Gelsenkirchen, University of Bochum Germany
1Department of Neurology, University of Jena Germany
2Internal Medicine, Evangelical Hospital Gelsenkirchen, University of Bochum Germany

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Psychiatry, University of Bochum. Evangelical Hospital Gelsenkirchen. Munckelstrasse 27. 45879 Gelsenkirchen. Germany

Received 9 April 1998; first review notified 29 June 1998; accepted 22 July 1998

Standardized investigations on resting heart rate variability (HRV) should provide more information on acamprosate's human pharmacodynamic properties because acamprosate interacts with several neurotransmitter systems which are also involved in maintaining autonomic neurocardiac balance. We performed HRV measurements prospectively in 69 healthy controls and 19 chronic alcoholics to prove the hypotheses that: (1) compared to healthy controls, chronic alcoholics show disturbances in neurocardiac vagal function; and (2) in alcoholics, acamprosate treatment (6–8 days) should further decrease parasympathetic activity if acamprosate interacts with central {gamma}-aminobutyric acidA receptors in vivo. Cardiovagal dysfunction was initially present in 21% of the alcoholics. After treatment, however, their neurocardiac sympathetic-parasympathetic balance improved significantly.


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