Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial of Prazosin for Alcohol Use Disorder

What is it about?

Available medications for alcohol use disorder do not target the noradrenergic system, which is involved in moderating responses to stress. The alpha-1 noradrenergic medication, Prazosin, was tested in a double-blind placebo controlled randomized trial with 92 people with an alcohol use disorder who did not have PTSD and was found to be associated with significantly greater reductions in both number of drinks and probability of heavy drinking over time relative to placebo. There were no between-group differences on number of drinking days. These results suggest Prazosin holds promise as a harm-reduction pharmacologic treatment for alcohol use disorder.

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