For some alcoholics, alcohol gives an addictive thrill. For others, alcohol is a balm for stress and anxiety. A new study identifies a drug that can be particularly effective for the treatment of the latter group. The drug, which blocks the receptors for a neurotransmitter involved in stress responses, cravings significantly reduced in a group of rehabilitated alcoholics.
The drug most widely used for the treatment of alcoholism is naltrexone, which blocks the feeling of well-being of opioid receptors in the brain. But recent research has shown that naltrexone tends to work better for some 20% of alcoholics who start drinking early - before age 25 - and get hooked on alcohol because suddenly they get to drink, said Markus Heilig, a researcher at the US National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism in Bethesda, Maryland. The drug is less effective in the other 80% of alcoholics, which generally develop addiction to alcohol later in life and drink primarily to relieve anxiety. Heilig and his colleagues hypothesized that drugs that reduce the stress response in the brain may be more useful for the treatment of the most common type of addiction.
In an article published online today in Science , the team describes experiments with a drug that blocks a receptor for substance P, a neurotransmitter involved in pain and stress signaling. The drug, known as LY686017 name, had proven safe in previous clinical trials for depression, but was not effective enough to continue developing, Heilig said. The researchers selected 50 volunteers, all recovering alcoholics who had a high score on a questionnaire measuring anxiety, and gave a daily half-dose of LY686017; the other half received a placebo pill.
Those who got the drug has received consistently lower on a standard questionnaire that measures the cravings of alcohol during the monthlong experience. To review the determination volunteer under stress, the researchers conducted mock interviews with three rear-facing assistants in white coats. Each volunteer had to give a 5 minute presentation to convince the "Committee" that he or she was the perfect person for a dream job, and then had to 5 minutes from difficult mental arithmetic. After this test, the volunteers were given a small container of their favorite beverage to handle and sniff but not drink. In the placebo group, blood tests showed high levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and presentations of serious alcohol cravings questionnaires. Cortisol levels and cravings were much lower in volunteers taking the drug.
"I think it's a fascinating story," said neuroscientist Selena Bartlett of the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. The frame work well with awareness growing as people become addicted to alcohol for different reasons, she said. "It seems that we are heading towards a sea change for new therapies for alcoholism."
Related Sites
- stress on information and alcohol
- information on other therapeutic targets for alcoholism
- information and General resources on alcoholism
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