TY - JOUR
T1 - Prolonged Benzodiazepine Levels Following Withdrawal in Alcohol Dependence
AU - Little, Hilary J
AU - Donoghue, Kim
AU - Drummond, Colin
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this work was provided by U.K. Medical Research Council Grant number G0701681. Colin Drummond was funded in part by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, and by the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South London (NIHR CLAHRC South London), now recommissioned as NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South Lon-don; he also received funding from an NIHR Senior Investigator award. The funders had no contribution to the study design; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; and the decision to submit the article for publication. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the MRC, the National Health Service (NHS), the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Funding Information:
Support for this work was provided by U.K. Medical Research Council Grant number G0701681. Colin Drummond was funded in part by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, and by the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South London (NIHR CLAHRC South London),
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Alcohol Research Documentation Inc.. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - OBJECTIVE: This article presents the benzodiazepine concentrations in urine samples from participants undergoing alcohol withdrawal in a Phase 4 "Proof of Concept" double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Chlordiazepoxide was prescribed to all participants "as needed" during the first 2 weeks only of alcohol withdrawal, to prevent serious consequences such as seizures. The trial examined effects of either mifepristone or placebo on the primary trial outcomes, which included cognitive function tests at 3 weeks and 4 weeks after the cessation of drinking. Because benzodiazepines are known to affect memory, urine benzodiazepine concentrations were measured before cognitive testing.METHOD: Urine samples were collected from participants immediately before each cognitive testing session, and the concentrations of unconjugated benzodiazepines (i.e., compounds active at benzodiazepine receptors) were measured by standard assay, using mass spectrometry.RESULTS: The urine benzodiazepine measurements showed clearly that amounts of active benzodiazepine metabolites were present during the third and fourth weeks after the cessation of drinking that were as high as or higher than those seen after therapeutic dosing.CONCLUSIONS: The urinary benzodiazepine concentrations demonstrated that residual active benzodiazepine compounds can be present up to 2 weeks after the last ingestion. This could affect the results of cognitive testing in people with alcohol dependence undergoing detoxification.
AB - OBJECTIVE: This article presents the benzodiazepine concentrations in urine samples from participants undergoing alcohol withdrawal in a Phase 4 "Proof of Concept" double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Chlordiazepoxide was prescribed to all participants "as needed" during the first 2 weeks only of alcohol withdrawal, to prevent serious consequences such as seizures. The trial examined effects of either mifepristone or placebo on the primary trial outcomes, which included cognitive function tests at 3 weeks and 4 weeks after the cessation of drinking. Because benzodiazepines are known to affect memory, urine benzodiazepine concentrations were measured before cognitive testing.METHOD: Urine samples were collected from participants immediately before each cognitive testing session, and the concentrations of unconjugated benzodiazepines (i.e., compounds active at benzodiazepine receptors) were measured by standard assay, using mass spectrometry.RESULTS: The urine benzodiazepine measurements showed clearly that amounts of active benzodiazepine metabolites were present during the third and fourth weeks after the cessation of drinking that were as high as or higher than those seen after therapeutic dosing.CONCLUSIONS: The urinary benzodiazepine concentrations demonstrated that residual active benzodiazepine compounds can be present up to 2 weeks after the last ingestion. This could affect the results of cognitive testing in people with alcohol dependence undergoing detoxification.
KW - Humans
KW - Benzodiazepines
KW - Alcoholism/drug therapy
KW - Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/drug therapy
KW - Antisocial Personality Disorder
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148321699&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.15288/jsad.21-00432
DO - 10.15288/jsad.21-00432
M3 - Article
C2 - 36799679
SN - 1937-1888
VL - 84
SP - 97
EP - 102
JO - Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs
JF - Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs
IS - 1
ER -
