Alcoholism can be treated with gene therapy, says study – 08/15/2023 – Health

Excessive alcohol consumption can be reduced —and even eliminated— through a therapy that “reprograms” the region of the brain associated with pleasure, as revealed by new research published in the journal Nature Medicine last Monday (14).

According to the study, the treatment known as gene therapy is already used to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s and appeared to be effective also in the recovery of some severe cases of alcoholism.

Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) researchers evaluated the treatment in four male rhesus monkeys in the laboratory and found that those with alcohol abuse (consumption of eight or more drinks of alcohol diluted in water per day ), consumption was reduced by more than 90% compared to the control group.

The therapy —which consists of a surgical procedure on the head— introduces into a specific area of ​​the brain a viral vector (adenovirus type 2, which does not cause infection in animals) containing modified human genes that encode a protein, known as GNDF, which induces to the production of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure.

But this substance is also associated with the mechanisms of addiction: the more pleasure that activity brings, the faster the organism consumes the molecule, reducing the time interval until the brain sends the “want more” signal. As a result, substance abuse behavior occurs.

With gene therapy, the monkeys had this dopamine production chain “reprogrammed”, which eliminated their need for alcohol consumption.

In the months after the intervention, the monkeys were rated on their beverage choices. After the therapy, the preference was for water, and no longer for the alcoholic solution. “This really was a fantastic result, alcohol consumption dropped to practically zero,” said researcher and head of the Division of Neuroscience at OHSU, Kathleen Grant.

The scientists also looked at magnetic resonance imaging of the monkeys’ brains to see whether those areas where the virus was implanted were indeed being stimulated by new dopamine production. “The monkeys treated with gene therapy began to continuously express dopamine and greatly reduced their alcohol intake,” explained Grant.

Binge drinking is a problem that now affects more than 1 in 6 individuals in the United States, with an estimated 140,000 alcohol-related deaths annually. This rate ranges from 1 in 4 (25%) people consuming alcohol abusively in the range of 25 to 34 years.

In Brazil, as well as in the USA, deaths and hospitalizations attributable to alcohol in women have increased in the last decade, while these rates have decreased among men in the same period.

In the country as a whole, in 2021, which is the year with the latest available data, 69,000 deaths and 335,000 hospitalizations associated with alcohol were computed, according to Datasus.

Research should move on to other animals

The therapy had important side effects, such as a loss of up to 18% of the weight. Furthermore, as the animals were treated with the highest available dose of the vector, it would be necessary to adjust to levels that do not have more serious side effects in humans.

Next steps in research should assess whether the same addiction control mechanism is observed in females and other animal models before moving forward to humans. The researchers stress, however, that the therapy has already been proven to be safe and effective for reducing symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease in adults, and for the treatment of a rare childhood syndrome, which causes difficulty in locomotion.

As it is an irreversible intervention, the researchers estimate that it will not be indicated for all patients. “It is important to emphasize that it will be appropriate for those who have not been effective in the treatment of alcoholism by other therapies, such as pharmacological or cognitive [psicologia]”, said the researcher.