Ketamine emerging as top treatment for cocaine dependence
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM THE ECNP CONGRESS
Interpreting baclofen studies
The first high-quality multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial, conducted in Germany, showed baclofen (Lioresal) at a mean dose of 180 mg/day was effective in maintaining alcohol abstinence (Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2015 Aug;25[8]:1167-77).
“They got wonderful results, with a number-needed-to-treat of 2.3. That is something we’re not used to seeing in the treatment of alcoholism. But there was no dose-response effect, which is a little unusual,” the psychiatrist observed.
Then a multicenter group of Dutch investigators, including Dr. van den Brink, carried out what they believed would be a confirmatory randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. However, it showed no difference between high- or low-dose baclofen and placebo in time to relapse (Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016 Dec;26[12]:1950-9).
Little further light was shed by the two large French randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials presented at the 2016 World Congress for Alcohol and Alcoholism in Berlin. One, the BACLOVILLE trial, included 320 patients treated in 60 family practice clinics; it showed strongly positive results for high-dose baclofen. In contrast, the 316-patient ALPADIR study proved negative. These conflicting results were particularly disappointing because France has been at the forefront of using high-dose baclofen to treat alcoholism, Dr. van den Brink said.
“Maybe some 100,000 people have been treated with high-dose baclofen for alcoholism in France,” he said. “What is the conclusion from all these baclofen studies? You can interpret them in many ways. Maybe there are two positive trials and two negative trials, or maybe there are two positive trials and two failed trials. The debate is not closed, even after four randomized trials.”
Dr. van den Brink reported receiving research funding from and/or serving as a consultant to more than half a dozen pharmaceutical companies.
