title: Varenicline potentiates alcohol-induced negative subjective responses and offsets impaired eye movements.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Varenicline (VAR) is a partial nicotinic receptor agonist that is an effective smoking cessation medication. Preliminary evidence indicates that it may also reduce alcohol consumption, but the underlying mechanism is not clear. For example, VAR may reduce alcohol consumption by attenuating its subjectively rewarding properties or by enhancing its aversive effects. In this study, we examined the effects of an acute dose of VAR upon subjective, physiological, and objective responses to low and moderate doses of alcohol in healthy social drinkers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthy men and women (N = 15) participated in 6 randomized sessions; 3 sessions each with 2 mg VAR and placebo (PL) followed 3 hours later by a beverage containing PL, low-dose alcohol (0.4 g/kg), or high-dose alcohol (0.8 g/kg). Subjective mood and drug effects (i.e., stimulation, drug liking), physiological measures (heart rate, blood pressure), and eye tracking tasks were administered at various intervals before and after drug and alcohol administration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VAR acutely increased blood pressure, heart rate, ratings of dysphoria and nausea, and also improved eye tracking performance. After alcohol drinking (vs. PL), VAR increased dysphoria and tended to reduce alcohol liking ratings. It also attenuated alcohol-induced eye-tracking impairments. These effects were independent of the drug's effects on nausea before drinking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data support the theory that VAR may reduce drinking by potentiating aversive effects of alcohol. VAR also offsets alcohol-induced eye movement impairment. The evidence suggests that VAR may decrease alcohol consumption by producing effects, which oppose the rewarding efficacy of alcohol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. echilds@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Childs
authors.forename: Daniel J O
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: Andrea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Harriet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Wit
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D001552:Benzazepines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011810:Quinoxalines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068580:Varenicline; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001552:Benzazepines; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D011810:Quinoxalines; D000431:Ethanol; D000068580:Varenicline