Effects of a novel GABA-B positive allosteric modulator, ASP8062, on alcohol cue-elicited craving and naturalistic alcohol consumption in a multisite randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: The γ-aminobutyric acid-B (GABA) receptor is a promising target for the development of new medications to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD). The GABA agonist baclofen has been reported to reduce alcohol consumption but is associated with some undesirable side effects, including sedation. ASP8062 is a novel compound that acts as a positive allosteric modulator at the GABA receptor and may be more tolerable than baclofen.

Designing clinical trials to address alcohol use and alcohol-associated liver disease: an expert panel Consensus Statement.

Most patients with alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) engage in heavy drinking defined as 4 or more drinks per day (56 g) or 8 (112 g) or more drinks per week for women and 5 or more drinks per day (70 g) or 15 (210 g) or more drinks per week for men. Although abstinence from alcohol after diagnosis of ALD improves life expectancy and reduces the risk of decompensation of liver disease, few studies have evaluated whether treatment of alcohol use disorders will reduce progression of liver disease and improve liver-related outcomes. In November 2021, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism commissioned a task force that included hepatologists, addiction medicine specialists, statisticians, clinical trialists and members of regulatory agencies to develop recommendations for the design and conduct of clinical trials to evaluate the effect of alcohol use, particularly treatment to reduce or eliminate alcohol use in patients with ALD.

Defining Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorder: Development of an NIAAA Research Definition.

The objective of this article is to provide an operational definition of recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) to facilitate the consistency of research on recovery and stimulate further research. The construct of recovery has been difficult to operationalize in the alcohol treatment and recovery literature. Several formal definitions of recovery have been developed but have limitations because 1) they require abstinence from both alcohol and substance use, 2) they do not include the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for AUD as part of the recovery process (i.

Effects of Alcohol Cue Reactivity on Subsequent Treatment Outcomes Among Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Multisite Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Varenicline.

Background: The alcohol cue reactivity paradigm is increasingly used to screen medications for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and other substance use disorders. Yet, its prospective association with craving and naturalistic drinking outcomes in clinical trials remains unknown. This study embedded repeated human laboratory assessments of alcohol cue reactivity within the context of a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of varenicline tartrate (Chantix ), a partial agonist of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, on alcohol craving among treatment-seeking heavy drinkers with AUD.