Acute administration of reboxetine reduces alcohol self-administration but, after a subchronic treatment with this drug, alcohol self-administration is enhanced

Abstract

Introduction

Comorbidity between alcoholism and depression has long been acknowledged, and the possibility that similar brain mechanisms, involving both serotonergic (5-HT) and noradrenergic systems (NE), underlie both pathologies has been suggested. Thus, inhibitors of NE and 5HT uptake have been proposed for the treatment of alcoholism, as they have shown to reduce alcohol intake in various animal models. However, most of the studies mentioned were carried out acutely and there is a lack of knowledge of the possible long-term effects. Clinical studies report an overall low efficacy of antidepressant treatment on alcohol consumption, or even a worsened prognosis. In addition, several cases of alcohol dependence following antidepressant treatment have been reported in the literature.

Objectives

We aimed at comparing the acute and chronic effects of the treatment with the antidepressant drug reboxetine on alcohol consumption.

Methods

We used a rat model of alcohol self-administration, and two different schedules of reboxetine administration (acute and chronic).

Results

Our results confirm the acute suppressant effects of reboxetine on alcohol consumption but indicate that, when this drug is administered chronically in a period of abstinence from alcohol, it can significantly increase the rate of alcohol self-administration.

Conclusions

These results are important for the understanding of the clinical reports describing cases of increased alcohol consumption after antidepressant treatment, and suggest that much more research is needed to fully understand the long term effects of antidepressants, which remain the most widely prescribed class of drugs.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.