Acamprosate in the treatment of binge eating disorder: a placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To assess preliminarily the effectiveness of acamprosate in binge eating disorder (BED). METHOD In this 10-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, flexible dose trial, 40 outpatients with BED received acamprosate (N = 20) or placebo (N = 20). The primary outcome measure was binge eating episode frequency. RESULTS While acamprosate was not associated with a significantly greater rate of reduction in binge eating episode frequency or any other measure in the primary longitudinal analysis, in the endpoint analysis it was associated with statistically significant improvements in binge day frequency and measures of obsessive-compulsiveness of binge eating, food craving, and quality of life. Among completers, weight and BMI decreased slightly in the acamprosate group but increased in the placebo group. DISCUSSION Although acamprosate did not separate from placebo on any outcome variable in the longitudinal analysis, results of the endpoint and completer analyses suggest the drug may have some utility in BED.