1980 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 181-195
As a method for examining the psychological dependence potential of afloqualone, a centrally acting muscle relaxant, the subjective effects of the drug were studied in 8 healthy male volunteers under the double blind condition. The trial in each subject consisted of a 3-day afloqualone administration session and a 3-day control agent administration session with a 4-day interval between the two sessions. The subjects were hospitalized for the 3 days of each session and treated with oral daily doses of either afloqualone or control agents. In the afloqualone session, 2 capsules containing afloqualone (10 mg each) and 2 placebo capsules, 3 afloqualone capsules and 1 placebo capsule, and 4 afloqualone capsules were administered on the 1st, 2 nd, and 3 rd day respectively.
In the control agent session, one capsule containing 5 mg of diazepam and 3 placebo capsules were administered on either the 1st or 3 rd day and 4 placebo capsules were administered on each of the other 2 days. Half of the subjects had the afloqualone session first while the rest had the control agent session first, and in the control agent sessions, half of the subjects received diazepam on the 1st day while the remaining half received it on the 3 rd day. In each session the subjective feelings of the subjects were examined using 4 types of questionnaires given 1 to 11/2 hours after administration. In addition, such psychological tests as the personality, tapping, and Uchida-Kraepelin tests were conducted both prior to and after each administration. As a result, while some statistically significant subjective effects were observed with diazepam, none were found with afloqualone even though the blood levels of the drug were sufficiently high in these subjects. Thus, within the above dose regimen, afloqualone was regarded to have no pharmacological property, productive of psychological dependence in man.
