EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF ACAMPROSATE IN THE TREATMENT OF DETOXIFIED ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT PATIENTS - A 90-DAY PLACEBO-CONTROLLED DOSE-FINDING STUDY

Background Acamprosate is a newly registered drug that appears to redu ce alcohol-drinking in both animal models and clinical conditions. Met hod In order to assess the efficacy and safety of the drug in the trea tment of detoxified alcoholics, we performed a 90-day double-blind tri al comparing two dosages of acamprosate (1332 mg/day and 1998 mg/day). Results For all efficacy parameters, acamprosate appeared to be signi ficantly superior to placebo, with a trend towards a better effect at the higher dosage. Furthermore, acamprosate appeared to be extremely s afe. Conclusion This study confirms that acamprosate could be an inter esting adjuvant for maintaining abstinence in detoxified alcoholics.