A group of scientists claims that have found the cure to alcoholism, claiming they can reverse the urge to drink alcohol which can open doors to developing drug or gene therapies to control alcohol addiction.
The team at US-based Scripps Research had used laser treatment to temporarily inactivate specific neuron which not only reversed alcohol-seeking behavior but additionally reduced the physical symptoms of withdrawal.
“This discovery is exciting. It means we have another piece of the puzzle to explain the neural mechanism driving alcohol consumption,” said Olivier George, Associate Professor at Scripps.
Currently, the treatment is far from ready for human use, but George believes identifying these neurons has opened doors to developing drug therapies or even gene therapies to control alcohol addiction.
The study was reported in the Nature Communications journal, which said that the team had tested the role of a subset of neurons in the ensemble, which is called corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons. They found these CRF neurons make up 80 percent of the ensemble.
For the study, rats were surgically implanted with optic fibers that would shine a light on the CRF neurons and then make them inactive at the flip of a switch.
The findings found that once the alcohol-dependent rats, showed signs of withdrawal. When they were offered alcohol again, rats drank more than ever. The CeA neuronal ensemble was active, telling rats to drink more.
But when the CRF neurons were inactivated, the rats were able to show non-dependent traits. The intense motivation to drink had gone. Inactivating these neurons also reduced the physical symptoms of withdrawal, such as abnormal gait and shaking.
“We were able to characterise, target and manipulate a critical subset of neurons responsible for excessive drinking,” said Giordano de Guglielmo, staff scientist at Scripps.
