"The euphoria you experience with alcohol is extremely rapid and mostly happens within the first 15 to 30 minutes after your first drink," said Phillips. "Without that initial euphoric reaction, you are less likely to have that second, third or fourth drink." While the drug should prevent users from feeling happy from alcohol, it doesn't block the other effects of alcohol -- such as the inability to walk in a straight line or slurred speech. It also won't help with withdrawal symptoms or hangovers. The researchers hope to enter human clinical trials in the next year. If the drug is approved for human use, the patient would have to ingest the drug soon after or before their first drink for it to be effective. CP 154,526 isn't the only drug that could help alcoholics stop drinking. Naltroxone, which affects opioid receptors, is often effectively used in combination with counseling to stop relapse, but for some people it has little or no effect. Phillips and her collaborators are testing their drug specifically for treating alcoholism, but she says that since CP 154,526 binds to a receptor involved in stress and anxiety more generally, it could help treat a number of overly-pleasurable pursuits. That view is backed up by George Koob, a scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., who also studies CP 154,526 but was not involved in the OHSU study. "CRF antagonists [like CP 154,526] could help reestablish homeostasis involved with hedonic disregulation," said Koob. "This drug could be of use in many different situations." Other studies have shown that CRF helps regulate the pleasurable effects of nicotine, heroin and cocaine, said Koob. "In every system there is a yin and a yang, and the same goes for hedonic activities," he added. "With lots of pleasure there is usually a crash as well." Related Links: |
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