Melbourne: Scientists have identified a drug that could
potentially help our brains reboot and reverse the damage caused by heavy
alcohol consumption.
Research in mice show that
two weeks of daily treatment with the drug tandospirone reversed the effects of
15 weeks of binge-like alcohol consumption on neurogenesis — the ability of the
brain to grow and replace neurons (brain cells).
This is the first time
tandospirone has been shown to reverse the deficit in brain neurogenesis
induced by heavy alcohol consumption.
Tandospirone acts
selectively on a serotonin receptor, according to the research published in the
journal Scientific Reports. The researchers also showed in mice that the drug
was effective in stopping anxiety-like behaviours associated with alcohol
withdrawal, and this was accompanied by a significant decrease in binge-like
alcohol intake.
“This is a novel discovery
that tandospirone can reverse the deficit in neurogenesis caused by alcohol,”
said Professor Selena Bartlett from the Queensland University of Technology in
Australia.
“Other studies in mice
have shown that tandospirone improves brain neurogenesis, but this is the first
time it has been shown that it can totally reverse the neurogenic deficits
induced by alcohol,” Bartlett said. The researchers are constantly looking at
new treatment strategies for alcohol abuse and addiction.
“This opens the way to
look at if neurogenesis is associated with other substance-abuse deficits, such
as memory and learning, and whether this can reverse these,” she said.
This drug is relatively
new and available only in China and Japan.
Source:DNA-10th February,2018
