Evidence mapPaperPMID 29665351Full record

Trial reportNeuropharmacology2018

Neuroendocrine response to GABA-B receptor agonism in alcohol-dependent individuals: Results from a combined outpatient and human laboratory experiment.

Mehdi Farokhnia, Mikela B Sheskier, Mary R Lee, April N Le, Erick Singley, Sofia Bouhlal, Timmy Ton, Zhen Zhao, Lorenzo Leggio

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neuropharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
  3. GABAMedComm · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. GABACurrent topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2022
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Mehdi FarokhniaSection on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Mikela B SheskierSection on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Mary R LeeSection on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
April N LeSection on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Erick SingleyClinical Core Laboratory, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Sofia BouhlalSection on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Timmy TonDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Zhen ZhaoDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Lorenzo LeggioSection on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Electronic address: lorenzo.leggio@nih.gov.
National Institute on Drug Abuse · USNational Institutes of Health Clinical Center · USNational Institutes of Health · US

Funding

Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology (CPN)ZIAAA000218 · NIAAA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM · PI LEGGIO, LORENZO · 2013 to 2020
$22.8M
Intramural NIH HHS Z99 AA999999Intramural NIH HHS ZIA AA000218
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, plays an important role in biobehavioral processes that regulate alcohol seeking, food intake, and stress response. The metabotropic GABA-B receptor has been investigated as a potential therapeutic target for alcohol use disorder, by using orthosteric agonists (e.g., baclofen) and positive allosteric modulators. Whether and how pharmacological manipulation of the GABA-B receptor, in combination with alcohol intake, may affect feeding- and stress-related neuroendocrine pathways remains unknown. In the present randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, thirty-four alcohol-dependent individuals received baclofen (30 mg/day) or placebo in a naturalistic outpatient setting for one week, and then performed a controlled laboratory experiment which included alcohol cue-reactivity, fixed-dose priming, and self-administration procedures. Blood samples were collected, and the following neuroendocrine markers were measured: ghrelin, leptin, amylin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), insulin, prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). During the outpatient phase, baclofen significantly increased blood concentrations of acyl-ghrelin (p = 0.01), leptin (p = 0.01), amylin (p = 0.004), and GLP-1 (p = 0.02). Significant drug × time-point interaction effects for amylin (p = 0.001) and insulin (p = 0.03), and trend-level interaction effects for GLP-1 (p = 0.06) and ACTH (p = 0.10) were found during the laboratory experiment. Baclofen, compared to placebo, had no effect on alcohol drinking in this study (p's ≥ 0.05). Together with previous studies, these findings shed light on the role of the GABAergic system and GABA-B receptors in the shared neurobiology of alcohol-, feeding-, and stress-related behaviors.

Indexed as

AdultAlcohol DeterrentsAlcoholismAmbulatory CareBaclofenBiomarkersDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGABA-B Receptor AgonistsHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeurosecretory SystemsOutpatientsReceptors, GABA-BTreatment OutcomeAlcohol DeterrentsBaclofenBiomarkersGABA-B Receptor AgonistsReceptors, GABA-BAlcoholAppetitive hormonesBaclofenGABAGABA-B receptorNeuroendocrine responseStress hormones

Identifiers

PMID29665351
PMCPMC6050109
OpenAlexW2797470990

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.