A double-blind, randomized trial of sertraline for alcohol dependence: moderation by age of onset [corrected] and 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter-linked promoter region genotype.

ABSTRACT: Late-onset/low-vulnerability alcoholics (LOAs) appear to drink less when treated with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor than placebo, whereas early-onset/high-vulnerability alcoholics (EOAs) show the opposite effect. We conducted a 12-week, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial of the efficacy of sertraline in alcohol dependence (AD). We compared the effects in LOAs versus EOAs and examined the moderating effects of a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene. Patients (N = 134, 80.6% male, 34.3% EOAs) with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV AD received up to 200 mg of sertraline (n = 63) or placebo (n = 71) daily. We used urn randomization, and patients were genotyped for the tri-allelic 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter protein linked promote

SUBMITTER: Kranzler HR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3130300 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature