ABECARNIL, A NEW BETA-CARBOLINE, IN THE TREATMENT OF ANXIETY DISORDERS

Background Abecarnil,a novel anxiolytic beta-carboline, was investigat ed in five four-week double-blind, European multicentre stud ies. Over all, 451 patients with generalised anxiety disorder were randomised to abecarnil, 461 to placebo and 464 to active controls. Method Data inc ludes inferential statistics based on individual studies and descripti ve analysis of 323 patients in open-label abecarnil long-term continua tion up to 52 weeks. Results Abecarnil was safe, the most frequent adv erse event being drowsiness. Onset of effect was at week 1. At week 4 the Hamilton Anxiety Scale score had improved by 12-13 points on avera ge. Due to notably large and variable placebo effects abecarnil was no t consistently superior to placebo. No rebound or withdrawal symptoms were observed after fast-tapered discontinuation. Safety extent of eff icacy and incidence of rebound or withdrawal did not change during lon g-term treatment. Conclusions Abecarnil is safe and effective. Further research into its therapeutic potential seems warranted. Declaration of interest The author is an employee of Schering AG, Berlin.