Mood Stabilizers for Alcoholism: BDNF Hypothesis
نویسندگان
چکیده
The aim of pharmacotherapy for alcoholism is to increase sustained abstinence during and after treatment and to reduce relapse. There is accumulating, but not convincing, evidence showing the effects of mood stabilizers on alcohol dependence. Moreover, several studies suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may be directly or indirectly associated with alcohol dependence, and mood stabilizers have been reported to increase BDNF. Taken together, it can be tentatively hypothesized that mood stabilizers increase BDNF and thereby, albeit partially, treat alcohol dependence which may be associated with low BDNF. Further studies are required to confirm this hypothesis (German J Psychiatry 2008; 11: 16-20).
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