Does glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist stimulation reduce alcohol intake in patients with alcohol dependence: study protocol of a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Exenatide, published as a clinical study.

Alcohol dependence is a major public health problem.

It is underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 3 patients taking part.

PubMed tags the participants as both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the Exenatide group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Exenatide, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Exenatide, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

The secondary endpoints include changes in total alcohol consumption, days without consumption, changes in brain activity and function, smoking status, cognition, measures of quality of life and changes in phosphatidylethanol as a biomarker of alcohol consumption from baseline to follow-up at week 26.

The subject headings attached to it are Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Exenatide, Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor, Injections, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists.

Author keywords: alcohol dependence, glp-1, glucagon-like peptide 1, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear radiology.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Exenatide in 3 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2018 (BMJ open), a journal based in England.

More context: the Exenatide compound page, all human trials.