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Normalizing Dopamine Levels in the Brain Can Reduce Alcohol Crav
ings Study Shows (2015)
By: zebb Date: July 23, 2017, 9:32 am
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Normalizing Dopamine Levels in the Brain Can Reduce Alcohol
Cravings Study Shows (2015)
https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/normalizing-dopamine-levels-brain-can-reduce-al…
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Normalizing Dopamine Levels in the Brain Can Reduce Alcohol
Cravings Study Shows (2015)
Submitted by admin on Wed, 10/14/2015 - 17:01
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More than 16 million adults in the U.S. have an alcohol-use
disorder
A scientific study has shown alcohol dependency can be treated
by targeting the dopamine system.
Gautam Naik Oct. 14, 2015 12:27 p.m. ET
Scientists have shown that a drug that normalizes dopamine
levels in the brain can reduce alcohol cravings in people
dependent on drink.
The finding was based on two studies, one conducted on people
and one on rats. In the human trial, patients who took the
experimental drug showed a marked reduction in alcohol craving.
A separate animal study suggested that the drug works by acting
on dopamine levels.
�It is proof of concept� that alcohol dependency can be treated
by targeting the dopamine system, said Pia Steensland,
neuroscientist at Karolinska Institute in Sweden and co-author
of both studies. �We need to do larger trials� to validate the
results.
Current drugs for alcohol dependency aren�t especially
effective. The population of patients is genetically diverse, so
only certain subgroups benefit. Prescription rates are low. As a
result, the need for better medicines is huge.
Alcohol makes the brain�s reward system release more dopamine
than normal, triggering a feeling of well-being. But as more
alcohol is drunk, the more the reward system is desensitized and
the less dopamine is released. Eventually, a person drinks more
alcohol not just to feel euphoric, but to attain a state of
physical and emotional normality. Thus, addiction sets in.
More than 16 million adults in the U.S. have an alcohol-use
disorder and nearly 88,000 people die each year from
alcohol-related causes, according to the National Institutes of
Health. In 2006, alcohol misuse cost the U.S. economy $223.5
billion, the NIH said.
For the human study, published Wednesday in the journal European
Neuropsychopharmacology, scientists recruited 56 Swedish alcohol
dependent men and women, who typically would drink the
equivalent of a bottle of wine a day.
The participants abstained from drink for at least four days.
Half were then given a placebo and half got OSU6162, a drug
believed to stabilize dopamine levels. The patients were
randomized and neither they nor the researchers knew who was
getting the experimental drug and who was getting the placebo.
For two weeks, the participants could drink as much as they
liked. On day 15, each person was offered a glass of their
favorite drink. According to the study, the OSU group reported
not enjoying their first sip as much as the placebo group. After
the drink was finished, the OSU group reported a lower craving
for alcohol compared to the placebo group.
In addition, those with the poorest impulse control�and thus at
greater risk of relapse after a period of abstinence�responded
best to the experimental drug.
Both the OSU and placebo groups reported only mild side effects.
This is significant because other dopamine-based medicines, such
as those used to treat schizophrenia, completely block dopamine
and can lead to nasty side-effects, such as nausea.
The rights to OSU6162 are owned by Arvid Carlsson, professor
emeritus at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden and co-author of
the human study. Dr. Carlsson, 92 years old, shared in the 2000
Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering that dopamine is a
transmitter in the brain. His team also developed OSU6162.
To better understand how OSU6162 might work, Dr. Steensland and
other researchers did a separate study on rats, also published
Wednesday in the journal Addiction Biology. Rats that
voluntarily drank alcohol over the course of almost a year had
lower dopamine levels than animals that drank no alcohol. When
OSU6162 was given to the �alcohol rats,� their dopamine levels
returned to normal.
The human trial wasn�t designed to comprehensively evaluate
whether the experimental drug could help people drink less. But
because of the promising early-stage results, Dr. Steensland and
her colleagues now hope to do a longer-term trial involving many
more patients.
One step closer to a new drug for alcohol dependence
October 14, 2015
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy
in Sweden might be one step closer to finding an effective drug
for alcohol dependence. In two separate studies, they show that
the dopamine stabilizer OSU6162 can reduce the craving for
alcohol in alcohol dependent people and normalises the level of
dopamine in the brain reward system of rats that have consumed
alcohol over a long period of time. However, thorough clinical
studies are needed to determine if the OSU6162 also can help
alcohol dependent people drink less alcohol.
"The results of our studies are promising, but there is still a
long way to go before we have a marketable drug," says Pia
Steensland, PhD, Associate Professo at the Department of
Clinical Neuroscience of Karolinska Institutet, and co-author of
both studies. "The socioeconomic costs of alcohol are huge, not
to mention the human suffering. It is inspiring to continue
working."
Roughly a million Swedes over 15 years of age drink so much
alcohol that they risk damaging their health, and it is
estimated that some 300,000 of these people are dependent.
Despite the pressing need, there are only a few approved drugs
for the treatment of alcohol dependence, but their effects vary
from person to person and the prescriptions rates are low.
Consequently the hunt for new, more efficacious drugs for
alcohol dependence continues.
The studies of OSU6162 are based on the knowledge of how the
brain reward system stimulates us to act in the interests of our
own survival. Since dopamine creates a feeling of wellbeing,
such as when we exercise or eat good food, the memory associates
the two so that we will repeat the behaviour. Alcohol makes the
brain reward system release more dopamine than normal, creating
a pleasant euphoric sensation. However, the more alcohol drunk,
the more the reward system is desensitised and the less dopamine
is released. With time, greater volumes of alcohol are needed to
cause intoxication and eventually to attain a state of physical
and emotional normality - addiction has set in.
In the clinical study, which is published in the scientific
journal European Neuropsychopharmacology� the scientists
examined for the first time if OSU6162 can reduce the craving
for alcohol in people with alcohol dependence. Half the
participants were treated with OSU6162 and half with placebo for
a fortnight, after which both groups were exposed to different
situations that could be assumed to elicit a craving for
alcohol. The results show that the experimental group
experienced less of a craving for alcohol after drinking one
glass of an alcoholic beverage.
"At the same time, the OSU6162 group reported not enjoying the
first zip of alcohol as much as the placebo group," says Dr
Steensland. "One interesting secondary finding was that those
with the poorest impulse control, that is those thought to be
most at risk of relapse after a period of abstinence, were those
who responded best to the OSU6162 treatment."
A study of rats published at the same time in the scientific
journal Addiction Biology adds to the understanding of how
OSU6162 works, as it shows that rats that voluntarily consumed
alcohol for almost a year had lower levels of dopamine in their
brain reward system than rats that had never drunk alcohol.
However, when the "alcohol rats" were treated with OSU6162 it
was found that the substance counteracted the low concentrations
of dopamine in the brain reward system.
"We therefore think that OSU6162 can reduce the alcohol craving
in dependent people by returning the downregulated levels of
dopamine in their brain reward system to normal," says Dr
Steensland.
More information: 'The Effects of the Monoamine Stabilizer
(-)-OSU6162 on Craving in Alcohol Dependent Individuals: A Human
Laboratory Study', Lotfi Khemiri, Pia Steensland, Joar
Guterstam, Olof Beck, Arvid Carlsson, Johan Franck, Nitya
Jayaram-Lindstr�m, European Neuropsychopharmacology, online 6
October 2015, doi:org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.09.018.
'The Monoamine Stabilizer (-)-OSU6162 Counteracts Down-Regulated
Dopamine Output in the Nucleus Accumbens of Long-Term Drinking
Wistar Rats', Kristin Feltmann, Ida Fredriksson, Malin Wirf,
Bj�rn Schilstr�m, Pia Steensland, Addiction Biology, online 14
October 2015, DOI: 10.1111/adb.12304.
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