Acamprosate.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol abuse and dependence are major causes of morbidity and mortality and come with a high societal cost. The illness is notoriously difficult to treat and relapse is a common occurrence. Acamprosate represents an effective addition to the treatment options available for alcohol dependence with a novel mechanism of action.


METHODS
We review the published acamprosate literature focusing on major and recent comparative clinical trials and meta-analyses. We included all studies found in National Library of Medicine's PubMed database searching on Mesh term: acamprosate excluded animal studies excluding non-English publications, and focusing on efficacy/effectiveness studies. Additionally, we discuss background information on alcohol dependence and acamprosate's putative mechanism of action. Safety and tolerability data are also presented.


RESULTS
The reader will gain a better understanding of the role of acamprosate in the treatment of alcohol dependence and find a useful synopsis of the more recently published literature evaluating acamprosate's effectiveness based on what are not always identically defined primary study outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Acamprosate is safe and effective in the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol use/abuse and is most commonly used in combination with nonpharmacologic therapeutic modalities. The effect size ranged from 1.3 to 2 for most of the studies included in this review.
Kennedy
William Klugh
WK
Mercer University College of Pharmacy and School of Medicine-Savannah Campus, Memorial University Medical Center, 4700 Waters Avenue, Savannah, GA 31403, USA. Kennedy_wk@mercer.edu
Leloux
Megan
M
Kutscher
Eric C
EC
Price
Paul L
PL
Morstad
Anne E
AE
Carnahan
Ryan M
RM
D000077443:Acamprosate; D000427:Alcohol Deterrents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013654:Taurine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000427:Alcohol Deterrents; D013654:Taurine; D000077443:Acamprosate