ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: For the relapse prevention in alcohol dependence, a lot of studies suggested that combined administration of two or more drugs which have different mechanism of action is more effective than each drug alone. In order to investigate the effectiveness of combined administration of naltrexone and acamprosate in comparison with naltrexone alone, this study was carried out by comparing the amount of alcohol intake in C57BL/6 mice co-administered with naltrexone and acamprosate with that in C57BL/6 mice with naltrexone alone. METHODS: In 42 C57BL/6 mice in the state of alcohol dependence, naltrexone 0.025mg/kg or 1.0mg/kg alone or with acamprosate 50mg/kg or 200mg/kg were administrated for ten days. The amounts of alcohol consumption for 2 hour, water consumption for 22 hours, and food intake for 24 hours were measured. RESULTS: 1) A significant reduction of alcohol intake for 2 hours was observed when the mice were treated with naltrexone 0.025mg/kg or 1.0mg/kg and acamprosate 50mg/kg or 200mg/kg simultaneously compared with naltrexone 0.025mg/kg or 1.0mg/kg alone. This effect was significant on the eighth and tenth days of drug administration. 2) Naltrexone administration of 1.0mg/kg was significantly more effective than that of 0.025 mg/kg in reducing alcohol intake from the second day of drug administration up to the tenth day. 3) No significant difference was revealed between the effect of naltrexone alone and that of naltrexone with acamprosate on 22 hour water consumption and 24 hour food intake. CONCLUSION: From these results, it is suggested that the effect of combined treatment with naltrexone and acamprosate is superior to that of naltrexone alone in prevention of relapse in alcohol dependence.