Alcohol disorder in monkeys cured with gene therapy
A primate study has shown that gene therapy for Parkinson's reduces cravings for alcohol in animals with "chronic alcoholism".A team of researchers led by Oregon Health and Science University showed that implanting a cell-growth molecule into the brain restored the dopamine reward system in animals predisposed to alcohol consumption. The technique could eventually be used to treat people with severe alcoholism.
The researchers used gene therapy, which is already used to treat Parkinson's disease. It involves brain surgery and implantation of a modified virus that carries the GDNF gene, which encodes glial neurotrophic factor.
In the experiment, the researchers implanted an adeno-associated virus with single-stranded DNA in rhesus macaques into a region of the brain associated with the operation of the dopamine reward system. In four macaques that had previously been trained to voluntarily and copiously drink ethanol diluted in water, alcohol consumption decreased by 90 percent after the procedure compared to a control group.
"Alcohol consumption dropped to almost zero. For several months, these animals preferred to drink water and avoid alcohol consumption altogether. They reduced their alcohol intake to the point where we didn't record blood alcohol levels," Kathleen Grant, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University and co-author of the study.
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