title: Comparative effects on psychomotor performance of the muscle relaxant afloqualone, alone and with ethanol.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between 40 mg afloqualone, a new centrally acting muscle relaxant and 0.5 g/kg ethanol using a double-blind three-way cross-over trial in which subjects were each given afloqualone with ethanol, ethanol alone and afloqualone alone. We first compared the effects of 40 mg oral afloqualone and 15 mg diazepam (considered as a reference drug) on the psychomotor and cognitive performance and muscular relaxation of 12 healthy male volunteers. Performance was assessed by six objective tests and eight visual analogue self-rating scales. All the above treatments were separated by a 2-week interval. Volunteers performed the objective tests 1 h after drug ingestion, and the self-rating scale evaluations before drug intake and 1, 3.5, 6 and 8 h thereafter. Afloqualone impaired psychomotor performance less than diazepam as shown by the number of correct answers in the digit symbol cancellation test and the time needed to complete this test. However, the measurement of the frontalis muscle action potential showed that the muscle relaxant activity of 40 mg afloqualone was equivalent to that of 15 mg diazepam. Furthermore, afloqualone given at an effective relaxant dose did not enhance the effects of a single dose of ethanol which predominated on either psychomotor performance or subjective feelings.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Pharmacologie Clinique, Hôpital Fernand-Widal, Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Girre
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertaux
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dussaucy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palombo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crouzette
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Fournier
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003975:Diazepam / Q000494:pharmacology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004347:Drug Interactions; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009125:Muscle Relaxants, Central / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009126:Muscle Relaxation / Q000187:drug effects; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D009125:Muscle Relaxants, Central; D011799:Quinazolines; D000431:Ethanol; C033541:afloqualone; D003975:Diazepam