The Anticonvulsant Zonisamide Reduces Ethanol Self-Administration by Risky Drinkers.

Sarid-Segal O, Knapp CM, Burch W, Richardson MA, Bahtia S, Dequattro K, Afshar M, Richambault C, Sickels L, Devine E, Ciraulo DA.

Division of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of zonisamide on ethanol self-administration and subjective effects in risky drinkers using a human laboratory paradigm. Method: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of zonisamide 100 mg on ethanol self-administration and urge to drink in risky drinkers (N = 10) (1). Result: During the second hour of a 2-hour self-administration session ethanol consumption was 50% lower in the zonisamide group as compared to the placebo group. Urge to drink was also significantly lower under the zonisamide condition. Conclusion: These results indicate that a single dose of zonisamide reduces urge to drink and the quantity of ethanol self-administered by risky drinkers during their second hour of access to alcohol. Scientific Significance: Zonisamide may help individuals drinking at risky levels reduce their intake of alcohol.

 

PMID: 19637104 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

 

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