Feb 28, 2009 10:28 PM
14002 Views
(Updated Feb 28, 2009 11:08 PM)
A drug prescribed for infertility and menstrual disorders could inadvertently treat alcohol addiction, says a new study. window.
Researchers at the University of California - San Francisco-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre said that an injection of cabergoline(Dostinex) in alcoholic rodents was found to reduce their alcohol consumption and alcohol-seeking behavior and make them less likely to relapse.
The findings were reported online in the journal Biological Psychiatry.his is encouraging, " said Dorit Ron, who led the study in the United States. "It demonstrates that caber go line is specific for alcohol, but does not affect general reward or pleasure, ” which, according to Ron, is a major advantage over any of the currently available alcoholism drugs.
One of the problems with some existing drugs to treat alcoholism is a side effect that decreases pleasure, making compliance an obstacle to sobriety, " said Ron, a principal investigator at the Gallo Centre and associate professor of neurology at UCSF.
Cabergoline, which is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is used in conditions where too much of the hormone prolactin is produced. The medication raises the body's production of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor protein(GDNF), which was shown to decrease the desire for alcohol in addicted rodents when shot straight to the drug-seeking region of the brain.
The rats in the study had been trained to consume alcohol. Like humans, some drank in moderation, while others binged. On administering GDNF both heavy and light drinkers were found to have lost at least some of their craving for alcohol, said the researchers in a release.
However, " Ron said, "we show that in mice and rats, a low dose of the drug is enough to reduce excessive alcohol consumption, alcohol seeking and relapse. The dose is similar to what is given to humans for the treatment of hyperprolactinemia."Estimates of the U.S. National Institutes of Health reveal that 18million people in the U.S. are alcohol dependent. One in every 12adults is known to abuse alcohol.
