Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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THE EFFICACY OF CLONIDINE IN THE PHARMACOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT OF ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

VIRGIL RADU ENĂTESCU 1#, RALUKA KALINOVIC 2#, CRISTINA ADRIANA DEHELEAN 3, CĂTĂLINA GIURGI-ONCU 1, LAVINIA MARIA HOGEA 1, PETRU IFTENI 4, GABRIELA VLAD 2, OANA NEDA-STEPAN 2, MIHAELA SIMU 1, OVIDIU HOREA BEDREAG 5, ILEANA MARINESCU 6, DELIA HUTANU 7, ILEANA ENĂTESCU 8*, LAURA ALEXANDRA NUSSBAUM 1

1.The 8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania
2 .“Pius Brinzeu” Emergency County Hospital – Psychiatric Clinic, Timișoara, Romania
3 .The 2nd Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania
4 .Transilvania University, Brașov, Romania
5 .The 10th Department, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania
6 .University of Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova, Romania
7 .Biology Department, West University Timișoara, Romania
8 .The 12th Department, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania

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Alcohol dependence and harmful use represent the most prevalent addictive disorder worldwide. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is considered a life-threatening condition by inducing severe physiological imbalances. Pharmacological management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome is very complex and challenging, often involving a long duration in getting remission. Our ongoing study aimed to analyse the efficacy of clonidine (an alpha-2-agonist) for improving alcohol withdrawal syndrome quantified by the mean change of The Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised (CIWA-Ar) scores. Of 30 patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome recruited so far, 11 (36.7%) benefited from clonidine treatment. Blood pressure and other physiological signs were periodically monitored. Although at the beginning of the treatment there were no differences between the mean CIWA-Ar scores (t = 0.352, p = 0.599), after 5 days the difference became significant in favour of those treated with clonidine (t = 3.147, p = 0.004). Clonidine may provide additional benefit in managing alcohol withdrawal by offering a different mechanism of action for targeting withdrawal symptoms.