Prick and not drink
Injection of GDNF protein into the brain of an alcoholic affects the neuroglia that supports the neurons of the "reward system". At the same time, the sick rats did not lose pleasure from other joys of life.
While some scientists are "advertising" red wine, others are persistently looking for ways to treat alcohol addiction. Of course, group psychotherapy sessions that foster willpower are effective, but modern medicine is more inclined to medical methods that have an appropriate fundamental justification.
The traditional approach is drugs that lead to extremely unpleasant sensations even with a slight increase in the level of ethyl alcohol in the blood. But, as practice shows, termination or even a break in therapy immediately leads to sad consequences.
Dorit Ron and her colleagues from the University of California also suggest influencing the brain, but in a more targeted way than psychotherapists.
They found that the introduction of the GDNF protein (glial neurotrophic factor) into a certain part of the brain contributes to the speedy elimination of addiction.
In a healthy body, this factor is produced by the "supporting" cells of the nervous tissue – the so-called glia. In addition to feeding neurons and isolating them from other cells of the body, glia is involved in the development of the nervous system and in its recovery after damage. And as has been recently shown – even in the acquisition of addiction to morphine and opiates.
Since most manipulations with the cultivation and subsequent introduction of cells are still carried out only in research laboratories, scientists have gone the usual way: they isolated the active substance and investigated its properties.
The GDNF factor has been known before – in particular, it is necessary for the development of motor neurons of the spinal cord, nerve cells and pathways both in the central nervous system and beyond. It also contributes to the "restoration" of nervous tissue, although the detailed mechanisms and scope of action remained unclear even after the work of Ron.
Scientists focused on dopamine-sensitive neurons that form the basis of the "reward system" in the brain. According to neurophysiologists, it is in this area that it is worth looking for the causes of human passions and numerous sins, including alcoholism. In their previous work, they showed that the "withdrawal" from alcohol with the drug ibogaine is associated with GDNF production. Japanese scientists first managed to identify the role of GDNF in the withdrawal from methamphetamines.
Ron decided to "throw out" the intermediate, ibogaine, and use the main active agent, GDNF, right away.
The experiments were carried out on rats. The unrestricted access provided to the unfortunate rodents to the lever that gave out alcohol, combined with the cramped walls of the cage for two weeks led to the development of a stable pattern of behavior – the rats became alcoholics.
However, the introduction of GDNF into the ventral-tegmental area of the brain of "addicted" rats led to a significant weakening of the motivation to drink – after ten minutes they turned to the lever much less often.
The effect lasted more than three hours. But the most important thing is that the same procedure made the rats "forget" about their addiction. The experimenters took away the container with alcohol, leaving the lever itself, which provided the supply of alcohol to the cells. In the absence of treatment, the rodents continued to persistently press on him, giving up only after a while. The return of the bottle to its place always ended the same way – the rats went back to their old ways.
This did not happen with rats that received GDNF injection. They were protected from disruption.
Ron notes that medications acting in this way should not affect the enjoyment of other "joys of life". The latter in laboratory rats were limited to food and alcohol, and healing from alcoholism with GDNF did not affect the rodents' love for sweetened water.
The authors of the work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (Carnicella et al., GDNF is a fast-acting potential inhibitor of alcohol consumption and relapse) are already searching among the approved drugs for those that increase the level of GDNF. In addition, Ron stressed that a new drug for Parkinson's disease is already being tested, which works precisely because of this factor.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru11.06.2008