American scientists reported on the treatment of alcoholism with one injection

As they say, not only viruses – scientists are actively looking for a vaccine against alcoholism. And now a new possible specimen of it has appeared, however, studied so far only on primates. But the results are encouraging: scientists say that a gene drug that restores the level of the joy hormone dopamine in the brain from a single injection will give a lasting result. “MK” learned the details of the discovery and the prospects for its application.

Until now, science has not invented an effective method of treating alcoholism, but scientists do not give up and continue the unequal struggle with the green snake. A new study from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine suggests that a cure for severe alcohol addiction could be gene therapy, which has been shown to provide long-lasting effects in a single dose. True, not yet among humans, but already among monkeys. The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

For America, the problem of alcoholism is much less relevant than for Russia, but still. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 28.6 million American adults aged 18 years and older (11.3% in this age group) and 894,000 adolescents in 2021 had alcohol use disorders. aged 12 to 17 (3.4% in this age group). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 140,000 deaths per year in the US are attributable to alcohol use disorders.

People with alcoholism typically experience recurring cycles of abstinence followed by relapses, even with one of the few approved drug treatments. Excessive alcohol consumption alters certain neural pathways in the brain that are involved in the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. In order to compensate for the lack of dopamine, people with alcohol addiction have to constantly seek rewards by adding doses of alcohol, which leads to this very addiction. Along the way, the sensitivity of dopamine receptors decreases and the absorption of dopamine increases. These changes lead to the fact that the level of dopamine becomes below normal: such is the lot of all people who like to pawn their collars.

Scientists have figured out how to compensate for the lack of dopamine, common to all alcoholics, without alcohol. The essence of the method: a viral vector with a protein gene is delivered to the brain, which causes a constant production of dopamine. This, they speculate, should reduce drinking and prevent relapse into drinking after abstinence.

To prove their theory, the scientists conducted a study on 8 male macaques. First, all eight animals were brought to alcoholism – that is, they were accustomed to drinking 4% alcohol. Then four animals were injected with a viral vector with a gene for expression (production) of the happiness hormone in the brain. The remaining four macaques received no treatment – they were injected with sterile saline using the same surgical procedure.

As a result of the experiments, it was found that infusion of a substance called AAV2-hGDNF significantly reduced alcohol consumption over several cycles with 4 weeks of abstinence and 4 weeks of alcohol administration; blood ethanol levels in the subjects treated with the drug were not determined and remained unchanged for most of the weeks until the end of the study. Control subjects (those who were spoofed with saline) had consistently elevated monthly and weekly alcohol consumption and blood ethanol levels throughout all cycles.

As a result, a team of researchers has developed a gene drug that increases the level of dopamine in the brain after its administration. “Our results suggest that such treatment can prevent relapse without requiring long-term treatment adherence from patients,” says one of the researchers Christoph Bankiewicz. “Overall, our results suggest that gene therapy can reduce alcohol consumption. We believe this approach deserves further study as a promising treatment for alcohol dependence and possibly other substance use disorders.”

As a well-known psychiatrist, professor of the Department of Psychiatry at the People’s Friendship University of Russia told MK Yuri Sivolapattempts to create a vaccine against alcoholism have been going on for a long time:

– I remember that a similar study was conducted several years ago – a gene preparation was also introduced into the brain on a viral vector. Some kind of harmless virus was taken, on which a protein fragment was planted that affects the synthesis of dopamine, this construct was introduced into the brain cell – and it began to synthesize dopamine. But then the problem was that this procedure, in order to achieve the effect, had to be repeated, it seems, monthly. Although the idea itself is quite interesting, and yet I have not seen randomized trials proving the effectiveness of such methods. We need to continue working in this direction.

– Are there any chances that in a certain number of years there will be drugs for the treatment of alcoholism using this technology?

– I wouldn’t count on it too much. A few years ago, the director of the American Institute of Addictions, Nora Volkova, announced that work was underway to find a so-called vaccine against cocaine addiction. However, nothing convincing has yet emerged. The idea, I repeat, is good, but the fact is that it is very difficult, if in principle possible, to find not even a panacea, but simply an effective way to treat any addiction that is not reduced to just a violation of the transmission of dopamine, norepinephrine and other components of the brain. It is necessary to take into account the type of personality, and other factors. Although the search must be carried out.

– What do you think, how interesting it will be for an alcoholic to be vaccinated?

– If he is not motivated, nothing can cure him. If the patient does not want to live, medicine is powerless. However, if there is a flu vaccine, why not alcoholism?

– But after all, such vaccination does not imply a complete rejection of alcohol, that is, does not exclude it?

– Of course. If a person wants to stop drinking, she can help him in this matter. But there is no blockade on alcohol consumption. The vaccine may not work. At one time, hopes were associated with opioid receptor antagonists (several drugs of this group have been developed). The principle of their action is as follows: the antagonist substance binds to the receptors and suppresses their ability to stimulate under the influence of a psychoactive substance (heroin or alcohol), and the person does not get pleasure from the substance. It seemed to solve the problem. But it turned out that no: only a few patients have a therapeutic response to such treatment. In short, these drugs, we have them, do not work very well. But let’s hope that scientists will invent something else, although the treatment of addictions, I think, will remain complex.