Biomedical subjects

P Parot

Publications and source records attributed to P Parot.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

Acamprosate appears to decrease alcohol intake in weaned alcoholics.

Five hundred and sixty-nine alcoholics were included in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized multicenter study of the effects of Acamprosate (calcium acetylhomotaurinate (CA), 1.3 g/day) on indicators of alcoholic relapse after withdrawal. One hundred and eighty-one patients in the CA group versus 175 in the placebo group completed the three-month study. The major efficacy criterion was plasma gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), as an indicator of recent alcohol ingestion. This analysis was completed by criteria concordance analysis on a number of indicators of alcohol intake. Patients in both groups were similar initially. After 3 months of treatment, the patients in the CA group had significantly lower GGT (1.4 +/- 1.56 versus 2.0 +/- 3.19 times normal, P = 0.016). All significant differences (P less than 0.05) or trends (0.10 greater than P greater than 0.05) were in favor of a superior effect of CA over placebo. The major side-effect of CA was diarrhea (present in 13% of CA patients versus 7% of placebo, P = 0.04). CA proved superior to placebo on the evolution of markers of alcohol ingestion at three months, in this large-scale multicenter study. It could be a new modality in the drug therapy of alcoholism, not involving an antabuse effect, an antidepressant action, or conditioning.

Acamprosate↗

PubMed1990

[The value of magnesium pyrrolidone carboxylate in true cervix dystocia. A double blind versus placebo study].

The efficacy of spasmolytics in cervix dystocia during labor is very contested. For this reason the authors studied the action of pyrrolidone carboxylate of magnesium for this indication in a double-blind versus placebo study (48 patients divided in two groups). Strict inclusion criteria and homogeneity of the two groups of patients allowed them to find out that the use of this particular magnesium salt reduced significantly the length of labor. Consequently the authors assess that spasmolytics work not only through their placebo effect, which is thought by some authors.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Acamprosate. From pharmacology to therapeutics].

Acamprosate is an homotaurine derivative, structural analogue of Gamma amino butyric acid and upper homologue of taurine. Its crossing through the blood brain barrier is facilitated by acetylation and calcium salification. Acamprosate has a very weak toxicity attributable to the ingested dose of calcium. Acamprosate is a GABAagonist showing pharmacological activity on direct and indirect tests of GABA activity and a high binding capacity with GABA receptors. Acamprosate also shows beta-adrenergic and serotoninergic activity, probably due to its GABAergic activity. Acamprosate is neither and antidepressant, nor a neuroleptic or a tranquillizer. In experimental alcohology, on different animal models (alcohol preferring or alcohol dependent) acamprosate induces a very clear and highly significant reduction of alcohol consumption. This effect is progressive and dose dependent, antagonized by bicuculine which is a GABA agonist. Besides, acamprosate reduces the intensity of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Clinical alcohology is a very difficult field for strict methodology in therapeutic trials: determination of inclusion characters, choice of judgment criteria, reduction of the number of drop out and lost subjects, length of evaluation... Different clinical controlled studies, most in double blind against placebo, on patients suffering from signs of physical or psychical alcohol addiction as well as biological modifications due to their ethylic consumption showed beneficial effects of acamprosate (in weaned alcoholics after withdrawal) according to clinical criteria (the number of abstinents after 3 months was doubled: 60% with active drug--30% with placebo) and for biological criteria (Normalization of Gamma Glutamyl Transpeptidase level in blood). The tolerance is good.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acamprosate↗