ArticleMolecular psychiatry2022
Spironolactone as a potential new pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder: convergent evidence from rodent and human studies.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05807139 (Spironolactone in Alcohol Use Disorder), which is not on this map. Cited by 28 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.
Spironolactone in Alcohol Use Disorder (SAUD): A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Ascending Dose, Phase 1b Study
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multi-ancestry study of the genetics of problematic alcohol use in over 1 million individuals.Nature medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Drawbacks to Strengthening Neural Salience Encoding: A Link Between Cortisol and Risky Drinking.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Trial
- Review
- Spironolactone and clinical outcomes in patients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid hypertension: a target trial emulation study.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Dissecting the role of mineralocorticoid receptors in binge-like alcohol drinking in mice: Finerenone as a potential pharmacotherapy.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Bridging genomics and pharmacoepidemiology to expand treatment options for alcohol use disorder.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Alcohol Use: A Real-Word Observational Study in a Large, Integrated Health Care System.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Comparative effectiveness of gabapentin and pregabalin on reduction in alcohol use: A nationwide observational cohort study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Bridging Genomics and Pharmacoepidemiology to Expand Treatment Options for Alcohol Use Disorder.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- DNA hydroxymethylation-mediated epigenetic modifications in alcohol use disorder.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Alcohol and the endocrine system: A critical review of disruptions, potential mechanisms, and health implications.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Review
- Neuroendocrinology meets addiction: Emerging pharmacotherapies on the horizon.Journal of internal medicine · 2025Review
- Multiomic Network Analysis Identifies Dysregulated Neurobiological Pathways in Opioid Addiction.Biological psychiatry · 2025Article
- Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, but not dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, reduce alcohol intake.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Article
- Evidence for independent actions of the CRF and ghrelin systems in binge-like alcohol drinking in mice.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2025Article
- GHSR blockade, but not reduction of peripherally circulating ghrelin via βMolecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Modeling Brain Gene Expression in Alcohol Use Disorder with Genetic Animal Models.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Human genetics and epigenetics of alcohol use disorder.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Review
- Novel medications for problematic alcohol use.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Review
- Social Media as Pharmacovigilance: The Potential for Patient Reports to Inform Clinical Research on Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 (GLP-1) Receptor Agonists for Substance Use Disorders.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Evidence suggests that spironolactone, a nonselective mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist, modulates alcohol seeking and consumption. Therefore, spironolactone may represent a novel pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD). In this study, we tested the effects of spironolactone in a mouse model of alcohol drinking (drinking-in-the-dark) and in a rat model of alcohol dependence (vapor exposure). We also investigated the association between spironolactone receipt for at least 60 continuous days and change in self-reported alcohol consumption, using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C), in a pharmacoepidemiologic cohort study in the largest integrated healthcare system in the US. Spironolactone dose-dependently reduced the intake of sweetened or unsweetened alcohol solutions in male and female mice. No effects of spironolactone were observed on drinking of a sweet solution without alcohol, food or water intake, motor coordination, alcohol-induced ataxia, or blood alcohol levels. Spironolactone dose-dependently reduced operant alcohol self-administration in dependent and nondependent male and female rats. In humans, a greater reduction in alcohol consumption was observed among those who received spironolactone, compared to propensity score-matched individuals who did not receive spironolactone. The largest effects were among those who reported hazardous/heavy episodic alcohol consumption at baseline (AUDIT-C ≥ 8) and those exposed to ≥ 50 mg/day of spironolactone. These convergent findings across rodent and human studies demonstrate that spironolactone reduces alcohol use and support the hypothesis that this medication may be further studied as a novel pharmacotherapy for AUD.
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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.