lithium-chloride and Alcoholism

Previous research has suggested that both lithium and buspirone could lessen alcoholics' desire to drink as well as reduce the actual amounts of alcohol consumed. The purpose of this study was to compare lithium and buspirone monotherapy with placebo on outcomes of abstinence, alcohol quantity consumed, treatment retention and compliance, and medication side effects.. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-arm parallel group, clinical trial that compared lithium and buspirone with placebo in 156 alcohol-dependent men.. Study retention rates for the three treatment groups at 3 and 6 months, respectively, were 61% and 46% for lithium, 44% and 27% for buspirone, and 52% and 38% for placebo (p = NS, for 3 and 6 months). Overall abstinence rates were 28% and 19% at 3 and 6 months, respectively. However, mean daily quantities of alcohol consumed and percentage of drinking days decreased significantly (p < 0.0001) over time in all treatment groups. Differential improvement was seen only for the decrement in quantity consumed in the buspirone group, compared with the placebo group, but only at a trend level (p = 0.07). According to pill counts, compliance did not differ significantly among the treatment groups.. These results do not support the hypothesis that either lithium or buspirone, compared with placebo, produces differential reductions in alcohol consumption. The results suggest the need to enhance treatment retention to maximize outcomes.

Topics: Adult; Alcoholism; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Antimanic Agents; Buspirone; Double-Blind Method; Humans; Lithium Chloride; Male; Mental Disorders; Middle Aged; Regression Analysis; Temperance

Experiments on 220 albino rats showed that lithium carbonate, chloride and nicotinate had different capacities to suppress ethanol dependence induced by a three-month administration of alcohol, with lithium nicotinate showing the greatest activity. The efficacy of the drugs correlated with the normalization of the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase, catalase and the levels of nicotinamide coenzymes and lipid peroxides in the brain, liver and kidneys. The drug administration was attended by an increased EEG synchronization, expanded range of perceived frequencies and enhanced synchronization energy. The above changes occurred with all lithium salts, being, however, most prominent with lithium nicotinate.

Topics: Alcoholism; Animals; Brain; Chlorides; Humans; Kidney; Lipid Peroxides; Lithium; Lithium Carbonate; Lithium Chloride; Liver; Niacin; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidoreductases; Rats

The reinforcing properties of ethanol were examined in naive adult male rats by means of a place conditioning paradigm that has previously demonstrated the positive reinforcing properties of food, water and some drugs, and the aversive properties of punishers such as electric shock and lithium chloride. Only doses of 0.8-1.0 g/kg and higher produced clear place conditioning, and this was only conditioned place aversion; rats spent significantly more time on the side of the place conditioning box in which they received the vehicle than on the side in which they received ethanol. Doses between 0.1 g/kg and 0.8 g/kg produced increases in general activity, but did not produce any place conditioning. Control experiments indicated that the pattern of effects was not specific to the route of ethanol administration (intravenous or intragastric), rate of infusion, concentration, or vehicle. It was concluded that ethanol, in the doses used here, has only punishing or neutral motivational effects in naive rats and does not serve as a primary positive reinforcer in this model. The conclusions are discussed in relation to the relative difficulty encountered in attempts to produce ethanol self-administration, and the findings are viewed as consistent with a proposal that prolonged training and experience with ethanol are important for ethanol self-administration by the rat.

Topics: Alcoholism; Animals; Avoidance Learning; Chlorides; Conditioning, Classical; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electroshock; Ethanol; Humans; Lithium; Lithium Chloride; Male; Motivation; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Reinforcement, Psychology

Topics: Alcoholic Intoxication; Alcoholism; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Chlorides; Humans; Lithium; Lithium Chloride; Locomotion; Male; Movement; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Reflex; Sodium Chloride