Potential cure for alcohol disorder

A recent study by National Institutes of Health researchers and their associates suggests that a drug used to treat heart issues and high blood pressure may also be useful in treating alcohol use disorder.

Converging evidence from studies in mice and rats, as well as from a cohort study in people, is presented in the paper to support the idea that the drug spironolactone may help people drink less alcohol. Scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), both components of the NIH, and Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, were in charge of the research. The new findings are detailed in a research published in Molecular Psychiatry.

"Combining results from three distinct species and research projects of different designs, and then observing parallels in those data gives us confidence that we are onto something potentially significant from a scientific and therapeutic standpoint. As one of the senior authors and chief of the Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology Section, a joint laboratory of NIDA and NIAAA, Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., PhD, stated, "These findings support further investigation of spironolactone as a potential treatment for alcohol use disorder, a medical condition that affects millions of people in the U.S.

There are now three drugs that have been licenced for the treatment of alcohol consumption disorder in the United States, and they are both effective and crucial to the care of those who suffer from this condition. New drugs are required to offer a wider range of therapy options since alcohol consumption disorder is influenced by a variety of biological processes. A wider selection of pharmaceutical treatments that might be customised for each patient is being developed by scientists.

Mineralocorticoid receptors, which are found throughout the brain and other organs and help control fluid and electrolyte balance in the body, may be involved in alcohol use and craving, according to an earlier study. According to a preclinical study, greater mineralocorticoid receptor signalling is a factor in higher alcohol consumption. The current study used the drug spironolactone, which has numerous effects including inhibiting mineralocorticoid receptors, in an effort to further this line of inquiry. Spironolactone is a diuretic that is used in therapeutic settings to treat illnesses like high blood pressure and cardiac issues.

Researchers from NIAAA and NIDA working under the direction of co-senior author Leandro Vendruscolo, Pharm.D., PhD, from NIDA discovered that increasing doses of spironolactone reduced alcohol consumption in male and female animals without impairing their ability to move or coordinate, or affecting how much food or water they consumed.

Researchers led by co-senior author Amy C. Justice, M.D., PhD, of the Yale School of Medicine examined the health records of a sizable sample of patients from the U.S. Veterans Affairs healthcare system in a separate study that was part of this team's collaborative efforts to assess potential changes in alcohol consumption after spironolactone was prescribed for its current clinical indications (e.g., heart problems, high blood pressure). The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Intake, a screening tool, revealed a strong correlation between spironolactone therapy and a decline in self-reported alcohol consumption. Notably, individuals who reported risky/heavy episodic alcohol intake before beginning spironolactone medication showed the greatest effects.