Extremely long recovery time for the sedative effect of clonidine in male type 1 alcohol-dependent subjects in full sustained remission

Berggren, Ulf; Eriksson, Matts; Fahlke, Claudia; Sundkler, Anders; Balldin, Jan

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Volume 28, Issue 3 , Pages 181-187, November 2002

Extremely long recovery time for the sedative effect of clonidine in male type 1 alcohol-dependent subjects in full sustained remission☆

Ulf Berggren
- The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, MÖLNDAL, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden
Matts Eriksson
- The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, MÖLNDAL, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden
Claudia Fahlke
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +46-31-7734289; fax: +46-31-7734628.
- Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 500, Göteborg University, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Anders Sundkler
- The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, MÖLNDAL, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden
Jan Balldin
- The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, MÖLNDAL, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden

Received 1 March 2002; received in revised form 2 August 2002; accepted 20 August 2002.

Abstract

The possible relation between alpha-2-adrenoceptor function—as assessed by changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate, as well as level of sedation, after administration of clonidine (2.0 μg/kg, i.v.)—and length of time of alcohol dependence or duration of remission was investigated in 17 male subjects with alcohol dependence in full sustained remission. Six healthy males were used as control subjects. The clonidine-induced scores for level of sedation were found to correlate with duration of time in remission (r = 0.60; P < .02). Median split of duration of remission revealed that subjects with short-term (2 ± 1 years) duration of remission had significantly lower scores for clonidine-induced level of sedation than the scores for both subjects with long-term (12 ± 5 years) duration of remission (P < .004) and control subjects (P < .02). There was also a significant correlation between duration of remission and values for clonidine-induced reduction of systolic blood pressure (r = 0.51; P < .05). Results indicate an extremely long recovery period in some aspects of alpha-2-adrenoceptor function, especially for clonidine-induced increase in level of sedation, with a normalization time of 4 to 5 years.

Keywords: Alcohol dependence, Full sustained remission, Alpha-2-adrenoceptors, Clonidine sedation, Blood pressure, Heart rate