Trial reportJournal of addiction medicine
Effect of Lowering the Dose of Varenicline on Alcohol Self-administration in Drinkers With Alcohol Use Disorders.
Trial report in Journal of addiction medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of Varenicline in the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence: An Updated Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Emotion regulation strategies moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers: an experimental paradigm.Journal of American college health : J of ACH · 2023Trial
- Effects of varenicline on cognitive performance in heavy drinkers: Dose-response effects and associations with drinking outcomes.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Effects of varenicline on alcohol cue reactivity in heavy drinkers.Psychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Effect of Varenicline Combined with High-Dose Alcohol on Craving, Subjective Intoxication, Perceptual Motor Response, and Executive Cognitive Function in Adults with Alcohol Use Disorders: Preliminary Findings.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2016Trial
- Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Craving Reduction: Efficacy of Short-Term Treatments in Alcohol Use Disorder.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Antismoking agents do not contribute synergistically to semaglutide's ability to reduce alcohol intake in rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- A novel human laboratory alcohol self-administration paradigm for medication screening: Modeling the ability to resist drinking and heavy drinking.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2022Article
- A Critical Review of Alcohol Administration Guidelines in Laboratory Medication Screening Research: Is It Time to Include Treatment Seekers?Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021Review
- Design of a randomized controlled trial of smoking cessation medications for alcohol reduction among HIV-positive heavy drinkers and daily smokers in St. Petersburg, Russia.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2020Article
- Promoting activity of (α4)Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Article
- An improved model of ethanol and nicotine co-use in female P rats: Effects of naltrexone, varenicline, and the selective nicotinic α6β2* antagonist r-bPiDI.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Article
- Pilot investigation of the effect of carvedilol on stress-precipitated smoking-lapse behavior.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2018Article
- Effects of the nicotinic agonist varenicline, nicotinic antagonist r-bPiDI, and DAT inhibitor (R)-modafinil on co-use of ethanol and nicotine in female P rats.Psychopharmacology · 2018Article
- The Effects of Long-Term Varenicline Administration on Ethanol and Sucrose Seeking and Self-Administration in Male P Rats.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2018Article
- Varenicline Reduces Alcohol Intake During Repeated Cycles of Alcohol Reaccess Following Deprivation in Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2017Article
- Effects of varenicline on alcohol self-administration and craving in drinkers with depressive symptoms.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2017Article
- Promising pharmacogenetic targets for treating alcohol use disorder: evidence from preclinical models.Pharmacogenomics · 2017Review
- Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Immediate-Release Versus Extended-Release Guanfacine in Adult Daily Smokers.Journal of clinical psychopharmacologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesVarenicline (2 mg/d) has been shown to be efficacious in reducing alcohol consumption. A lower dose of varenicline may be effective in reducing alcohol use while minimizing the potential for side effects.
methodsThis double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation examined the effect of varenicline (0, 1, 2 mg/d) on alcohol consumption in nontreatment-seeking adults meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for alcohol use disorders (N = 60). Following 7 days of medication pretreatment, participants were administered a low fixed dose of alcohol (0.3 g/dL), and subjective and physiologic responses were assessed. A 2-hour ad libitum alcohol self-administration period followed. We also explored relationships between plasma varenicline levels and consumption.
resultsOverall, frequency and severity of adverse events were minimal. The 1 mg/d dose reduced the frequency of insomnia compared with the 2 mg/d dose. The 2 mg/d varenicline dose versus placebo reduced alcohol craving and showed limited effect on reduced alcohol consumption. Alcohol craving and consumption did not differ between the 1 mg/d varenicline dose versus placebo. Trough varenicline plasma levels greater than or equal to 3 ng/mL were associated with reduced drinking and levels greater than or equal to 5 ng/mL were associated with reduced heavy drinking.
conclusionsOverall, we found no evidence supporting an effect of 1 mg/d varenicline on craving or consumption, suggesting that doses of varenicline less than 2 mg/d may not be effective in reducing alcohol-related outcomes. Importantly, results suggest that higher plasma levels of varenicline may be needed to maximize the effect of varenicline on alcohol consumption and should be investigated in drinkers meeting criteria for alcohol use disorders.
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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.