Rapid suppression of alcohol withdrawal syndrome by baclofen

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a distressing and at times life-threatening condition in alcohol-dependent patients (1). Usually, symptoms develop within 6 –24 hours after the last drink (2). Early symptoms include raised blood pressure and pulse rate, tremor, hyperreflexia, and anxiety with increased irritability. Clinical management is aimed at symptom relief, prevention of seizures and delirium, and a smooth transition to a treatment program to maintain long-term abstinence from alcohol (3). Benzodiazepines are presently the drug of choice (4). We recently found that baclofen, a -aminobutyric acid (GABA)B receptor agonist used to control spasticity (5), reduced voluntary alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats (6), as well as alcohol craving and intake, up to complete alcohol abstinence, in alcohol-dependent patients (7). Furthermore, baclofen suppressed the intensity of alcohol withdrawal syndrome in rats who were physically dependent on alcohol (6). We therefore studied the effects of oral administration of baclofen in patients with severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome.