Jc. Gillin et al., THE EFFECTS OF LISURIDE ON MOOD AND SLEEP DURING ACUTE WITHDRAWAL IN STIMULANT ABUSERS - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT, Biological psychiatry, 35(11), 1994, pp. 843-849
Psychostimulant abusers often experience anhedonia, depression, fatigu
e, craving, and hypersomnia and increased propensity for rapid eye mov
ement (REM) sleep during periods of acute and subacute withdrawal from
cocaine and amphetamine. These signs and symptoms may reflect a state
of relative functional dopamine depletion in the brain during abstine
nce. Lisuride, which has dopaminergic agonist effects, has been report
ed to reduce signs of psychostimulant withdrawal in rodent models of s
timulant abuse. These observations prompted us to test the effects of
oral administration of lisuride for 3 weeks (up to 4.0 mg daily) on mo
od and craving ratings in a double-blind, parallel design, controlled
study in hospitalized stimulant abusers during acute withdrawal from c
ocaine or amphetamine. Although administration of lisuride significant
ly prolonged REM latency and reduced REM time, amelioration of other s
igns of withdrawal was not significantly greater in lisuride as compar
ed with placebo treated patients. Self-rated craving ratings, however,
were low in both groups throughout the hospital stay. Further studies
, perhaps in patients with more severe symptoms during withdrawal, are
needed to fully test the efficacy of lisuride in the treatment of sti
mulant withdrawal.