Alprazolam dependence prevented by substituting with the β-carboline abecarnil
| Autor: | Ruggero Galici, Graziano Pinna, Lechoslaw Turski, Herbert Schneider, David N. Stephens |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1997 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Time Factors Substance-Related Disorders Mice Inbred Strains Anxiety Mice medicine Animals Analysis of Variance Multidisciplinary Alprazolam Electromyography business.industry Antagonist Electroencephalography Biological Sciences Abecarnil Substance Withdrawal Syndrome Discontinuation Clinical Practice Muscle Rigidity Anesthesia Rapid onset Anticonvulsants medicine.symptom business Carbolines medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94:2719-2723 |
| ISSN: | 1091-6490 0027-8424 |
| Popis: | Abrupt termination of the treatment of humans with benzodiazepines (BDZs) leads to a rapid onset of discontinuation syndrome characterized by anxiety, muscle spasms, and occasionally convulsions. For this reason, it is recommended in clinical practice to reduce the dose of the BDZs gradually at the end of treatment. Nevertheless, many clinicians report signs of dependence even during gradual reduction of doses (tapering) of the BDZs in a large proportion of patients. Thus, there is considerable interest in discovering means of weaning patients away from BDZs without the risk of discontinuation syndrome. In the present study, mice withdrawn from chronic treatment with alprazolam showed anxiety, muscle rigidity, and seizures between days 1 and 28 after termination of the treatment. Replacement of alprazolam with the β-carboline abecarnil for 7 days prevented the occurrence of the signs of dependence. In contrast, substitution of the β-carboline antagonist ethyl-5-isopropoxy-4-methyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate (ZK93426) for alprazolam worsened the discontinuation syndrome. Replacement therapy with abecarnil after long-term treatment with the BDZs offers a novel method for rapid tapering. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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