Gabapentin Reduces Alcohol Consumption and Craving: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Fernando A. Furieri, M.D., and Ester M. Nakamura-Palacios, M.D., Ph.D.

Objective: This study examined the efficacy of a 28-day gabapentin treatment in reducing alcohol consumption and craving.

Method: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed in a Brazilian public outpatient drug treatment center, with 60 male alcohol-dependent subjects with a mean age of 44 years and an average of 27 years of alcohol use, who consumed 17 drinks per day (165-170 g/day) over the past 90 days before baseline and had no other significant medical or psychiatric condition. Subjects were recruited between July 8, 2004, and February 24, 2005. Following screening, 60 subjects were selected and received diazepam and vitamins as treatment for acute withdrawal for at least 7 days. After the detoxification treatment, 30 subjects were randomly assigned to receive gabapentin (300 mg twice daily) for 4 weeks, and 30 subjects, with similar baseline characteristics, were randomly assigned to receive matching placebo tablets for the same period.

Results: After 28 days of treatment, the gabapentin group showed a significant reduction in both number of drinks per day and mean percentage of heavy drinking days (p = .02 for both), and an increase in the percentage of days of abstinence (p = .008), compared to the placebo group. Additionally, some improvement in obsessive-compulsive symptoms was noted in both groups after the treatment, but it resulted in a more pronounced decrease in automaticity of drinking and aspects of craving in the gabapentin group than in the placebo group.

Conclusion: Gabapentin reduces alcohol consumption and craving, which may help patients to maintain abstinence. These results, together with the virtual absence of side effects and a favorable safety profile, support gabapentin as a potential drug for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal and dependence.

(J Clin Psychiatry 2007;68:1691-1700)

Received Nov. 14, 2006; accepted Feb. 26, 2007. From the Vitória Municipal Addiction Treatment Center (Dr. Furieri); and the Department of Physiological Sciences, Health Science Center, Federal University of Espírito Santo (Dr. Nakamura-Palacios), Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.

There was no external funding for this study.

These results were presented at the 17th meeting of the Brazilian Association of Studies on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ABEAD), September 2, 2005, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and at the 24th meeting of the Brazilian Psychiatry Association, October 25, 2006, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, where it won the Prof. Oswald Moraes Andrade Award.

The authors report no financial affiliations or other relationships relevant to the subject of this article.

Corresponding author and reprints: Ester M. Nakamura-Palacios, M.D., Ph.D., Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Department of Physiological Sciences, Health Science Center, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Av. Marechal Campos, 1468 B. Maruípe, Vitória, ES, Brazil (e-mail: ester.palacios@terra.com.br; palacios@npd.ufes.br).