Conditions: Alcohol Dependence
Keywords: PUFAs Alcoholism Treatment Effectiveness
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 80
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
Context: The treatment of alcoholism is a challenge for psychiatrists and patients. Some studies have shown that alcohol alters the environment of the membranes, mainly by modifying their permeability through the lipid fraction. These lipids are known as essential fatty acids (EFA) because they are obtained only through the diet, as the human body is unable to synthesize them. Linolenic acid (LA), or omega 6, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), or omega 3, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Finally, ethanol changes the absorption and metabolism of PUFAs, and it's supplementation may be helpful for alcohol dependence recovery.

Objective: to assess the effectiveness of PUFAs supplementation in the treatment of alcohol dependent patients.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs): borage Oil (Borago officinalis L. Boraginaceae) - rich in omega 6 PUFA, dosage of 1 gram; along with 1 gram of fish oil - rich in omega 3 PUFA; arm 2: Naltrexone chlorhydrate 50 mg arm 3: Naltrexone Placebo: pill with 50mg of talcum powder, identical to the pill of naltrexone;

Polyunsaturated fatty acids Placebo (PUFAs Placebo): yellow liquid paraffin identical to the pills of borage seed and fish oil. arm 4: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs): borage Oil (Borago officinalis L. Boraginaceae) - rich in omega 6 PUFA, dosage of 1 gram; along with 1 gram of fish oil - rich in omega 3 PUFA;

Naltrexone chlorhydrate 50 mg

Interventions: intervention 1: Naltrexone intervention 2: PUFAs intervention 3: Placebo intervention 4: Naltrexone + Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: A pill of naltrexone chlorhydrate 50mg, associated to yellow liquid paraffin pills simulating borage seed and fish oil. intervention 2: Borage Oil (Borago officinalis L. Boraginaceae) - rich in omega 6 PUFA, dosage of 1 gram and Fish oil 1 gram - rich in omega 3 PUFAs; associated to a pill with 50mg of talcum powder, identical to the pill of naltrexone. intervention 3: A pill with 50mg of talcum powder, identical to the pill of naltrexone; associated to PUFAs Placebo pills (yellow liquid paraffin identical to the pills of borage seed and fish oil). intervention 4: A pill of naltrexone chlorhydrate 50mg, associated to Borage Oil (Borago officinalis L. Boraginaceae) - rich in omega 6 PUFA, dosage of 1 gram and Fish oil 1 gram - rich in omega 3 PUFAs.

Protocol document: