ReviewCNS drugs2014
Combined pharmacotherapies for the management of alcoholism: rationale and evidence to date.
Review in CNS drugs, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Guideline
- Optimal Dose of Baclofen for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-analysis.CNS drugs · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Combined Pharmacotherapy for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder in Patients Without Comorbid Conditions.CNS drugs · 2018Pooled it
- Efficacy of Combining Varenicline and Naltrexone for Smoking Cessation and Drinking Reduction: A Randomized Clinical Trial.The American journal of psychiatry · 2021Trial
- Comparing and Combining Topiramate and Aripiprazole on Alcohol-Related Outcomes in a Human Laboratory Study.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2018Trial
- Combination of Drugs in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression Study.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Neuroimmune modulators as novel pharmacotherapies for substance use disorders.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- Effects of cannabidiol plus naltrexone on motivation and ethanol consumption.British journal of pharmacology · 2018Article
- Nutrition and Muscle in Cirrhosis.Journal of clinical and experimental hepatology · 2017Review
- Sarcopenia in Alcoholic Liver Disease: Clinical and Molecular Advances.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2017Review
- Management of Alcohol Use Disorder in Patients Requiring Liver Transplant.The American journal of psychiatry · 2015Article
- Investigational therapies for the pharmacological treatment of alcoholism.Expert opinion on investigational drugs · 2015Article
- Potential dual role of cephalosporins in management of alcohol use disorders.Psychopharmacology · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) have limited efficacy. One approach to improving treatment outcomes for AUDs is to combine pharmacotherapies that have shown some efficacy as individual agents. The rationale for combining medications rests on the following principles: a combination of medications can target more than one neurotransmitter system that is dysfunctional in AUDs, can target different drinking behaviors (i.e., positive and negative reinforcement), can treat co-morbid psychiatric and medical disorders, and can minimize side effects, improving adherence to treatment by using lower doses of each drug in combination. Combined pharmacotherapy strategies may produce additive or even synergistic effects to decrease alcohol craving and consumption. Here, we reviewed the literature investigating the effect on alcohol-related outcomes of combinations of medications that have shown efficacy as single agents to reduce drinking in animal studies and clinical trials. We focused on 17 clinical studies investigating the combination of medications in AUDs, 11 of which were randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled. Ten of the 11 studies showed the combination to be superior to placebo, but only three showed an advantage of the combination compared with the single agent. Overall, these studies used diverse methodologies, assessments of severity, outcome measures, and adjunctive psychosocial treatments. Limitations of the current published studies and possible future directions for new combinations are discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.