Baclofen has been suggested as a potential pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder, but the clinical data are conflicting. Here we investigated the biobehavioral effects of baclofen in a sample of anxious alcohol-dependent individuals. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, human laboratory study in non-treatment seeking alcohol-dependent individuals with high trait anxiety (N=34). Participants received baclofen (30 mg per day) or placebo for at least 8 days, then performed an experimental session consisting of alcohol cue-reactivity followed by alcohol administration procedure (alcohol priming, then alcohol self-administration). Total amount of alcohol self-administered was the primary outcome; alcohol craving, subjective/physiological responses and mood/anxiety symptoms were also evaluated. There was no significant medication effect on the total amount of alcohol consumed during the alcohol self-administration (P=0.76). Baclofen blunted the positive association between maximum breath alcohol concentration during priming and the amount of alcohol consumption (significant interaction, P=0.03). Ratings of feeling intoxicated were significantly higher in the baclofen group after consuming the priming drink (P=0.006). During the self-administration session, baclofen significantly increased ratings of feeling high (P=0.01) and intoxicated (P=0.01). A significant reduction in heart rate (P<0.001) and a trend-level increase in diastolic blood pressure (P=0.06) were also detected in the baclofen group during the alcohol laboratory session. In conclusion, baclofen was shown to affect subjective and physiological responses to alcohol drinking in anxious alcohol-dependent individuals. These results do not support an anti-craving or anti-reinforcing effect of baclofen, but rather suggest that baclofen may act as a substitution medication for alcohol use disorder.

ABSTRACT. Objective: Alcohol misuse is substantially infl uenced by social factors, but systematic assessments of social network drinking are typically lengthy. The goal of the present study was to provide further validation of a brief measure of social network alcohol use, the Brief Alcohol Social Density Assessment (BASDA), in a sample of emerging adults. Specifi cally, the study sought to examine the BASDA's convergent, criterion, and incremental validity in relation to well-established measures of drinking motives and problematic drinking. Method: Participants were 354 undergraduates who were assessed using the BASDA, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identifi cation Test (AUDIT), and the Drinking Motives Questionnaire. Results: Signifi cant associations were observed between the BASDA index of alcohol-related social density and alcohol misuse, social motives, and conformity motives, supporting convergent validity. Criterion-related validity was supported by evidence that signifi cantly greater alcohol involvement was present in the social networks of individuals scoring at or above an AUDIT score of 8, a validated criterion for hazardous drinking. Finally, the BASDA index was signifi cantly associated with alcohol misuse above and beyond drinking motives in relation to AUDIT scores, supporting incremental validity. Conclusions: Taken together, these fi ndings provide further support for the BASDA as an effi cient measure of drinking in an individual's social network. Methodological considerations as well as recommendations for future investigations in this area are discussed. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 74, 810-815, 2013)

The rate of adverse events associated with medical and psychological interventions is important to regulators who oversee clinical research. There have been relatively few reports on the frequency of adverse events associated with hypnosis. The current article collected data from a publically available register (ClinicalTrials.gov) on adverse events reported during clinical trials that used hypnosis. The rate of serious adverse events likely attributable to hypnosis was 0%. The rate of other adverse events was 0.47%. This rate was similar to previous reports. However, several trials in the register that used hypnosis did not report adverse event data. For the trials that did report adverse events, there was substantial variability in reporting. Another limitation was the lack of generalizability as all studies included in the analysis used hypnosis to treat side-effects related to medical conditions or procedures as opposed to psychiatric conditions. Future clinical trials using hypnosis should use more precise assessment methods to report adverse events, especially when tested in samples with mental health disorders.

Background Abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis have been reported in alcoholism, however, there is no definitive agreement on the specific thyroid abnormalities and their underlying mechanisms in alcohol dependence (AD). The biological activity of thyroid hormones or the availability of T3 is regulated by the three deiodinase enzymes D1, D2 and D3. In the context of alcohol use, functionally significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP’s) of these deiodinase genes may play a role in HPT dysfunction. Methods The present study explored the effect of three functionally significant SNP’s (D1: rs2235544, D2: rs225014 and rs12885300) of deiodinase genes on drinking behavior and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in alcohol dependent (N=521) and control subjects (N=228). Results Rs225014 was associated with significant differences in the amount of naturalistic alcohol drinking assessed by the Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB). Alcohol-dependent subjects had significantly higher thyroid stimulating hormone levels compared to controls; however, there was no effect of genotype on TSH levels for either group. Conclusions These findings extend previous studies on thyroid dysfunction in alcoholism and provide novel, albeit preliminary, information by linking functionally significant genetic polymorphisms of the deiodinase enzymes with alcohol drinking behavior.

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HighlightsStudy examined effect of hypnotic suggestion on attention and craving for cigarettes.Effect of hypnotic suggestion on craving was moderated by level of hypnotic susceptibility.Hypnotic suggestion reduced craving in individuals with higher hypnotic susceptibility.

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On page S340 of this abstract, the first sentence in the 'Results' section should be 'Baclofen-treated patients experienced significantly more increase in the percent days...'