Possible Interaction: Ethanol and Ritanserin

“Liking of alcohol decreased from baseline with ritanserin 10 mg/day (p = 0.01) and placebo (p = 0.05).”

“Outpatient results: ritanserin 5 mg/day decreased desire and craving for alcohol (vs. baseline, p < 0.05) but not alcohol intake.”

“In conclusion, coadministration of ritanserin with ethanol prevented the development of EW-induced anxiety as measured by the EPM, but not in the PTZ drug discrimination.”

“This study investigated the ability of ritanserin , a 5-HT2 antagonist, to modify ethanol withdrawal (EW) symptoms in two animal models of anxiety: the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) discrimination assay.”

“1,4-Benzodiazepines [diazepam (0.1–4 mg/kg) … (2–8 mg/kg)], 5-HT2A/2C antagonists ritanserin (0.25–8 mg/kg) and deramciclane (0.5–8 g/…)], the 5-HT3 antagonist MDL-72222 (3 mg/kg) and ethanol (2–4 mg/kg) significantly … the effect of mCPP.”

“In each case, ritanserin significantly reduced ethanol consumption and ethanol preference for 8-10 days after the last injection.”

“We tested the hypothesis that ritanserin , a serotonin S2 antagonist, reduces voluntary and induced forms of ethanol drinking.”

“Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of ritanserin (10 micrograms/rat/day for 10 days) decreased ethanol preference, while subcutaneous (SC) treatment with the same dose was ineffective.”

“The present results provide evidence for a central site of action for the effect of ritanserin on ethanol intake and suggest that the NAC might be a highly sensitive site for its action.”

“ Ritanserin was bund active against t h m di&rent agents of abuse: alcohol , cocaine, and kntanyl (see FIG.”