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90 alcoholic patients (II stage of alcoholism) with secondary affective disorders (anxiety, depression) were divided into 4 groups. The patients of the first group received the GABA receptor ligand baclofen during 3 weeks. Sybazon preparation was used in the second group, while the patients of the third group were treated with amitriptyline. Placebo was applied in the forth group. The clinical psychological tests demonstrated that all drugs caused quite effective relief of affective disorders. Psychosemantic tests application showed that the pharmacotherapy caused positive changes in patients of 1-3 groups. These changes touched on both system of personal estimations and relations of personality to himself and to the world around i.e. psychosemantic sphere. Such changes in psychosemantic sphere were not observed in the 4-th group of patients (placebo). Besides it was revealed that each drug caused some specific changes in psychosemantic sphere. The result obtained were supposed to have some theoretical value in comprehension of brain-psychics relations as well as the applied significance for adequate choice of affective disorders pharmacotherapy of alcoholic patients.

90 patients with alcoholism stage II suffering from secondary affective disorders (anxiety, depression) were divided into 4 groups: treated with GABA-B-receptor ligand baclofen (group 1), with sibazon (group 2), amitriptylin (group 3), placebo (group 4). As shown by clinical, experimental psychological and electrophysiological examinations, baclofen is not inferior in efficacy to sibazon and amitriptylin, but is free of side effects and complications typical for the above drugs (central deprivation, addiction, etc.). MAO activity was unaffected in all the patients, so were dopamine, serotonin and GABA blood concentrations after the treatment. This does not allow to relate the peripheral metabolism of GABA and monoamines to emergence of secondary affective disorders in alcoholism. The authors think promising to seek for drugs effective against affective disorders among ligands of GABA-B receptors.

It has been demonstrated by a double blind placebo-controlled study that transcranial electric treatment (TET) by means of combination of direct current and pulse current and pulse current at a frequency of 70-80 Hz is an effective method of correcting affective disorders (anxiety, depressions) in patients suffering from alcoholism. The therapeutic effects of TET are coupled with changes in GABA and monoamine metabolism rather than in beta-endorphin as well as with a decrease of the latent period of the occurrence of alpha-rhythm after eyes closing.

Red cell aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH, EC 1.2.1.3) activity was measured by spectrophotometry in normal subjects and alcoholics after various periods of alcohol abstinence. ALDH was measured in all red cell hemolysate fractions; red cells were purified from hemoglobin by Sephadex CM-50 chromatography. The enzyme activity was found reduced in alcoholics' red cells as against that in controls. ALDH activities were somewhat increasing and approaching the normal values in the patients not using ethanol for 4 weeks or longer. These results recommend ALDH measurements in human red cells as a test for the detection of subjects abusing alcohol.

Alcohol dehydrogenase activity (ADH; KP 1.1.1.1.) in blood serum of rats and rabbits is 1 and 2 orders of magnitude higher than in humans. In chronic alcoholics, blood ADN is activated with an increase in alcoholism standing. Twelve hours after acute alcoholic intoxication alcoholics and heavy drinkers manifest a significant reduction in blood ADH activity. Acute alcoholic intoxication does not influence blood ADH in men who do not abuse alcohol. Chronic exposure of rabbits to ethanol leads to a decrease in ADH activity in the liver and to its rise in the blood. ADH activation is observed only in those animals which demonstrate the signs of fatty and protein liver dystrophy. It is concluded that chronic exposure to ethanol does not induce ADH synthesis in the liver. The blood ADH content ascends as a results of an increase in ADH transport from hepatocytes to the bloodstream.

Activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was estimated using highly sensitive spectrophotometric procedure with p-nitrose dimethylaniline as a substrate in blood serum of control healthy persons without a history of alcohol abuse and of the patients with chronic alcoholism. The ADH activity in the control group was about 0.55 +/- 0.04 microM/min/L and in the patients it was 2.5-5-fold higher. A direct correlation was found between the ADH activity and duration of alcohol abuse. In the patients with alcohol abstention syndrome the activity of ADH was 4.2-fold higher as compared with controls. During the remission, from 2 months up to 5 years, the enzymatic activity decreased, but was still distinctly higher than the control values.