ABSTRACT
Since the early sixties and in the wake of the pioneering studies conducted by Laborit (1964), γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) has been tested for different uses and in the treatment of a number of pathologies, almost exclusively in Europe. This chapter is aimed at reviewing the outcomes of these studies, some of them perhaps possessing a historical significance rather than a robust indication of therapeutic usefulness for GHB, while others feature GHB as a drug of some efficacy in the therapy of alcoholism and narcolepsy and as an anaesthetic adjuvant. Accordingly, at present GHB (a) is marketed in some European countries, including Italy, for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal and craving, and (b) has been approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Treatment Investigational New Drug for further evaluation of its efficacy in the treatment of narcolepsy. Interestingly enough, the studies available to date depict for GHB a profile of safety and good tolerability, with few episodes of side effects and abuse potential, in apparent contrast with the increasing number of recent reports on GHB abuse in the United States (see Galloway et al. 2000).
