title: Ethanol and pentobarbital: comparison of behavioral and subjective effects in sedative drug abusers.
abstract: The behavioral and subjective effects of acute oral doses of placebo, ethanol (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/kg), and pentobarbital (150, 300, 600, and 750 mg/70 kg) were compared in 8 male volunteers with histories of sedative drug abuse using a double-blind, double-dummy, cross-over design. Ethanol and pentobarbital produced similar dose-related decrements in psychomotor and cognitive performance and exhibited a similar profile of effects on staff- and participant-rated measures. There was some evidence indicating that, at the highest dose, pentobarbital was perceived by participants as being more sedating than ethanol and that pentobarbital has a greater abuse liability than ethanol. In conjunction with the results of previous human laboratory studies comparing the effects of different types of sedative-hypnotic drugs, these results support a mostly barbiturate-like rather than benzodiazepine-like profile of effects for ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA.
authors.forename: M Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Mintzer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guarino
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Roache
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D001519:Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D001944:Breath Tests; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D000431:Ethanol; D010424:Pentobarbital