title: Efficacy of Medications Approved for the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence and Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in Female Patients: A Descriptive Review.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the number of women recruited for studies to establish the efficacy of medications approved for treatment of alcohol dependence (AD) and of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is sufficient to reveal possible gender differences in the response to these medications and in suggesting the use of different doses in female patients. Our results show that the rates of women recruited for studies evaluating the efficacy of disulfiram (1%), benzodiazepines (3%), and anticonvulsants (13%) were too low to establish possible gender differences. The rates of women recruited for studies evaluating the efficacy of acamprosate (22%), naltrexone (23%), and nalmefene (30%) were higher and allowed evaluation of data obtained for female patients. Women receive medications for treatment of AD and/or AWS for which efficacy has been demonstrated in studies in which men were more largely represented.
authors: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Neuroscience and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
authors: Roberta
authors: R
authors: Agabio
authors: Pier Paolo
authors: PP
authors: Pani
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Preti
authors: Gian Luigi
authors: GL
authors: Gessa
authors: Flavia
authors: F
authors: Franconi
mesh_terms: D000077443:Acamprosate; D000427:Alcohol Deterrents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000430:Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004221:Disulfiram / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012737:Sex Factors; D013654:Taurine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents; D000927:Anticonvulsants; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D013654:Taurine; D009271:Naltrexone; D000077443:Acamprosate; C038981:nalmefene; D004221:Disulfiram