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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pharmacol Ther. 2017 Dec 2;185:64–85. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2017.11.007

Table 2.

Medication Mechanism of action Results in humans References
Pexacerfont CRF receptor-1 antagonist No positive effects on alcohol craving, emotional responses and anxiety, and stress related psychiatric disorders Kwako et al., 2015; Shaham & De Wit, 2016. Sanders & Nemeroff, 2016; Spierling & Zorilla, 2017.
Prazosin α1-Adrenoreceptor antagonist Reduced alcohol intake, symptoms of PTSD, and sleep Skelly & Weiner, 2014; Simpson et al, 2015; Petrakis et al., 2016.
Org-25935 Glycine reuptake inhibitor Not effective Liem-Moolenaar et al., 2013;
Ibudilast Phosphodiesterase inhibitor Attenuated the stimulant and mood altering effects of alcohol in comparison to placebo in a randomized, crossover, double-blind Placebo-controlled laboratory study. Ray et al., 2017.
Fenofibrate PPARα agonist Not effective Barbara et al., 2016
Memantine NMDA receptor antagonist Not effective, many negative side effects Evans et al, 2007.
ABT-436 Argenine-Vasopressin receptor antagonist Reduced HPA activity, antidepressant activity, reduced Cortisol levels, increased abstinence Katz et al., 2016; Katz et al., 2017;Ryan et al., 2017.
Hormones
Oxytocin GABA receptor agonist Decrease AWS, reverse tolerance Pederson et al., 2013
Ghrelin Ghrelin receptor agonist Increased alcohol craving in alcohol-dependent individuals, during abstinence Leggio et al., 2016; Koopmann et al., 2012.
Orexin Orexin receptor agonist Increased orexin levels in alcohol-dependent patients, decreased during abstinence, biomarker of alcohol relapse Ziotkowski et al., 2014; von der Goltz et al., 2012.
Varenicline Cytisine/Lobeline Nicotine Acetylcholine receptor Agonist/antagonist Reduced alcohol craving, diastolic blood pressure, increased learning memory, decrease alcohol craving in heavy smokers Verplaetse et al., 2016; Mckee et al., 2009; Mitchell et al., 2012; Litten et al., 2013.