Naturalistic Comparison of Clomethiazole and Diazepam Treatment in Alcohol Withdrawal: Effects on Oxidative Stress, Inflammatory Cytokines and Hepatic Biomarkers

Overview

Journal Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

Specialties Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2024 Jun 8

PMID 38851655

Authors

David Strischewski

Amira Kalmar

Paul C Guest

Henrik Dobrowolny

Gabriela Meyer-Lotz

Conrad J Schiffner

Wolfgang Jordan

Ulf J Muller

Katrin Borucki

Michael Bottcher

Borna Relja

Johann Steiner

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ethanol is metabolized by alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde and induces cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), which generates reactive oxygen species that cause inflammatory liver damage. Clomethiazole, a drug approved for alcohol withdrawal treatment (AWT) in some European countries, inhibits CYP2E1. We hypothesized that clomethiazole would lead to a faster reduction in oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines, and liver enzymes compared to diazepam treatment. We analysed respective biomarkers in 50 patients undergoing AWT and 25 healthy individuals but found no statistical difference between the two medication groups over 3-5 days. Hence, our hypothesis was not confirmed during this observation period.

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