New treatment for alcoholism could be around the corner

By Tom Campbell via SWNS

A new treatment for people with a booze addiction may be around the corner, according to a new study.

Monkeys who were given a hormone called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) cut back their alcohol consumption by 50 percent - even if they had developed a taste for it, say scientists.

Excessive drinking is a major health concern. About 39 million adults in the US drink too much. Only 1 in 6 has talked about it with a health professional, according to the CDC.

Studies have found genetic variants in FGF21 are linked to whether people are more likely to drink themselves under the table.

Giving rodents a hit of FGF21 has also been found to impact their brain and reduce the amount of alcohol they consume.

But exactly what neural pathways the hormone disrupts to quench their thirst has remained a mystery until now.

Author Dr. Matthew Potthoff at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in the United States said: “When considering how and why these modality-specific mechanisms evolved, it is interesting to note that mammals were primarily exposed to alcohol from fermenting fruits, which possess high levels of simple sugars.

"Despite this, neural circuits regulating FGF21-mediated suppression of sugar and alcohol intake apparently developed independently and not in response to a shared selective pressure.”

The researchers gave FGF21 to vervet monkeys who had shown a strong penchant for the bottle.

It reduced their alcohol consumption by around 50 percent, even if they were exposed to alcohol for long periods of time, the researchers found.

FGF21 affected a region of the monkey's brain called the nucleus accumbens, which plays a complex role in reward and addiction.

Specifically, it changed the activity in a group of neurons that are known to be involved in reward-seeking behavior.

More research is needed to understand how FGF21 affects these neurons in animals while drinking alcohol.

But the discovery could lead to treatments for people who struggle to control their alcohol intake.

Alcohol-related deaths are on the rise in the United States, with nearly 1 million people dying from alcohol-related causes between 1999 and 2017, according to the NIH.

Drinking too much alcohol has also been found to increase the chances of developing a number of chronic diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, liver disease, and many types of cancer.

People who drink on a regular basis are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week.

This is equivalent to six pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine. Anything more than that is considered alcohol abuse.

Dr Potthoff said: "Our results provide a mechanism for a liver-to-brain endocrine feedback loop that presumably functions to protect the liver from damage.

"The central molecular and cellular effects of FGF21 represent an opportunity for future research, and the present data indicates that FGF21 analogues may provide a potential treatment option against alcohol-use disorder and related diagnosis.”

The findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.