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Gabapentin reduces cocaine use among addicts from a community clinic sample
Wilfrid Noel Raby1, Siobhan Coomaraswamy
1Division of Substance Abuse, Substance Treatment and Research Service Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute New York, NY 10032, USA. rabywil@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu
Background:
Individuals with chronic psychiatric conditions display a high rate of cocaine use. Gabapentin was hypothesized to reduce cocaine use by restoring inhibitory GABAergic feedback on ascending dopaminergic projections to nucleus accumbens neurons.
Method:
Nine participants with DSM-IV cocaine dependence were selected from patients attending a large community psychiatric clinic. During a 24-week open-label trial of gabapentin (800-2400 mg/day), qualitative urine drug screens were collected from the participants up to 3 times per week. Data were collected from September 1999 to May 2001.
Results:
With gabapentin, the mean +/- SD number of cocaine-positive urine screens decreased from 53.11 +/- 13.23 to 35.22 +/- 14.84 (t = 3.58, N = 9, p <.01). The number of weeks of abstinence from cocaine increased from 2.1 +/- 1.5 to 8.0 +/- 5.5 (t = 3.21, N = 9, p <.01).
Conclusion:
Gabapentin appeared to be a safe and efficacious medication to reduce cocaine usage in a community sample of psychiatric patients.