Corrigendum: Comparing and Combining Topiramate and Aripiprazole on Alcohol-Related Outcomes in a Human Laboratory Study (Alcohol and Alcoholism (2015) 50:4 (458-462) DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agx108)

Abstract

In our manuscript (Haass-Koffler et al., 2017), we report that after 4 week titration and 1 week at target dose, there was a significant main effect for topiramate in decreasing body mass index (BMI). However, we did not specify how much BMIs declined. This information is important to report as the amount of the self-administered alcohol was adjusted based on body water during the human laboratory phase and the calculation is in part based on body weight. This information could be relevant to the study findings that topiramate 200 mg/day reduced alcohol consumption and lessened alcohol craving in the naturalistic phase, but not in the human laboratory phase. At Week 5, there was a significant main effect for topiramate on BMI [F1,37 = 6.07, P = 0.019] with aripiprazole as covariate and interaction with time, see manuscript for statistical approach (Haass-Koffler et al., 2017). The topiramate group showed a mean BMI loss of 0.36 (0.16 SD) while groups not receiving topiramate (aripiprazole and placebo) showed a mean BMI gain of 0.32 (0.22 SD) from baseline. The significant reduction of BMI, was observed only when the topiramate doses (100 mg and 200 mg) were collapsed. Of note, the reduction of BMI by 0.36 (0.16), which is ~1 kg for an average person, would not affect amount of alcohol consumed in the laboratory (priming drink) since it would have influenced minimally the calculation of the alcohol to be administered as standard unit drink. For example, in a 45-year-old male, weight 80 Kg, height 1.75 m (BMI = 26.1), according to the Watson equation (Watson et al., 1981), the calculated amount of alcohol in the priming dose correspond to 16.6 g. For the same male, the reduction of BMI by 0.36 (BMI = 25.8), the amount of alcohol in the priming dose would correspond to 16.4 g (0.2 g difference).