Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (35)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wiesbeck, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Boening, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wiesbeck, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Boening, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 329-334, 2001
© 2001 Medical Council on Alcoholism

Flupenthixol decanoate and relapse prevention in alcoholics: results from a placebo-controlled study

Gerhard A. Wiesbeck*,, Heinz-Gerd Weijers, Otto M. Lesch1,, Thomas Glaser2,, Peter-Joachim Toennes2, and Jobst Boening

Addiction Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wuerzburg,
1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Vienna, Austria and
2 Bayer Vital, Leverkusen, Germany

Received 27 March 2000; first review notified 9 January 2001; accepted 6 February 2001

Flupenthixol, with its broad receptor profile, interacts with a variety of dopamine and serotonin binding sites which are important in the neurobiology of alcohol dependence. Its pharmacology, together with encouraging results from both animal studies and clinical trials with cocaine users, led us to postulate that flupenthixol would significantly prevent relapse in detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals. We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-centre trial with two parallel groups and appropriate statistical evaluation. Subjects met criteria for moderate to severe alcohol dependence (DSM-III-R), without any concomitant psychiatric disorder. After complete detoxification, 281 women and men received either 10 mg of flupenthixol decanoate or placebo as i.m. injection every second week for 6 months on an out-patient basis, followed by 6 months of follow-up. Efficacy was based on absolute abstinence, with relapse being defined as consumption of any alcohol after inclusion in the study. In contrast to the hypothesis, flupenthixol did not reduce, but was associated with more, relapses. Though well tolerated, relapse rates after 6 months of treatment were 85.2% (flupenthixol) versus 65.5% (placebo), a highly significant difference from the medication. Flupenthixol was also inferior to placebo with regard to other secondary criteria of efficacy (cumulative abstinence duration, relapse rate after 12 months). These results indicate that a 10 mg dose of flupenthixol decanoate does not have a beneficial effect on abstinence maintenance in alcohol-dependent individuals.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Alcohol AlcoholHome page
T. Hillemacher and S. Bleich
Neurobiology and Treatment in Alcoholism--Recent Findings Regarding Lesch's Typology of Alcohol Dependence
Alcohol Alcohol., March 13, 2008; (2008) agn016v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Alcohol AlcoholHome page
G. M. Saletu-Zyhlarz, O. Arnold, P. Anderer, S. Oberndorfer, H. Walter, O. M. Lesch, J. Boning, and B. Saletu
DIFFERENCES IN BRAIN FUNCTION BETWEEN RELAPSING AND ABSTAINING ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT PATIENTS, EVALUATED BY EEG MAPPING
Alcohol Alcohol., May 1, 2004; 39(3): 233 - 240.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.