A Novel Pharmacotherapy for Alcoholism and Alcohol Liver Disease

It is proposed to test metadoxine (MTDX) that it is hypothesized to be significantly beneficial for the treatment of alcoholism and ALD. Metadoxine is currently approved in Europe for acute and chronic alcohol intoxication but has never been tested in the US. Furthermore, MTDX is used in Europe to treat ALD. Preliminary evidence shows that MTDX reduces alcohol consumption in AD individuals. If the role of MTDX in reducing alcohol consumption and improve liver function is confirmed by a rigorous study design, then MTDX might represent a truly innovative pharmacotherapy for AD, given the potential to be used for AD individuals with ALD. However until this proposal, MTDX has never been investigated as a treatment for AD able to reduce both alcohol consumption and improve alcohol-related liver damage via a double-blind placebo-controlled study. This project therefore proposes to conduct a 12-week (followed by a 3-month follow-up), double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject randomized clinical trial with MTDX (500mg t.i.d.) in AD individuals.