News di Alcologia

Alcolismo: a mali estremi arriva il vaccino
di Claudia Moschi

Se il problema con l'alcol è davvero serio si potrebbe prendere in considerazione un vaccino. I ricercatori dell'Università del Cile hanno annunciato di essere riusciti a sintetizzare un composto che provocherebbe una sbronza immediata e distruttiva a chi beve anche solo una minima quantità di spirito, purché si sia sottoposto all'iniezione. Gli effetti del composto durano in media tra i 6 e i 12 mesi e agiscono sul fegato impedendogli di metabolizzare l'alcol ingerito provocando una fortissima nausea, mal di testa e malesseri diffusi. Un sistema estremo per combattere la piaga dilagante dell'alcolismo.

Fonte: icdb.cl

Articolo originale

"I hope to see someone stop drinking due to our work"

Harmful use of alcohol kills at least 2.5 million people each year. Faced with this reality, a group of researchers from the ICDB, led by Dr. Yedy Israel, is developing a gene therapy unique in the world that allows us to reject and avoid alcohol excess.
It is a topic that excites and obsesses him. Excessive consumption of alcohol, as well as its consequences, has been the engine that has guided the research of Dr. Yedy Israel. Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Toronto, professor at the University of Chile and a senior fellow at our institute, knows by heart the dark figures of alcoholism.

In Chile, for example, 6% of the population is alcoholic, people who depend on alcohol to function. Along with this, 20% of the population has a problem with drinking, consuming too much and exposed to risks in different areas of life. But Dr. Israel goes further. Alcoholism has cost Chilean society 3 billion dollars per year, not a minor number considering that the earthquake of February 2010 had an economic impact of 8 billion dollars.

After years of research, Dr. Israel emphasized that alcoholism has a double component: "About 60% is explained by heredity and 40% by environmental factors, including religious factors, cultural, permissive policy price, access, purchasing power, etc. For example, in the Arab world is very difficult to become an alcoholic because alcohol is not available. And as the environment does not permit it, these genes cannot be expressed".

Challenged with uncontrolled consumption of alcohol, a group of researchers at our institute, led by Dr. Yedy Israel is developing a gene therapy unique in the world that allows us to reject and avoid alcohol excess.

How did you become interested in alcoholism?
In the early '50s, a professor at the University of Chile, Jorge Mardones, created in a laboratory the first group of drinker rats. This is a milestone in the field of alcoholism, as in the world there are only four similar initiatives held for scientific purposes. One remains in the hands of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile. Mardones was the professor who motivated me to conduct my PhD in alcoholism. Later I worked in Canada with the world expert, Harold Kalant. I was the director of alcoholism in Ontario hospital with 50.000 patients and started with the first lines of research in gene therapy.

When I started to do genetic studies, I was invited to come to Chile and at the same time, I was offered to build this laboratory (Laboratory of Gene Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Chile) where we have formed national groups oriented to frontier research.

Could you tell us about the experience with drinker rats?
Two strains of rats were bred in the laboratory: one group who liked to drink alcohol at 10% and an abstemious group. Both are offered alcohol and water for several months. In the case of rats it was found that drinkers are able to drink 1 liter of whiskey a day for 70 kg. Meanwhile, the group of abstinent rats does not drink almost anything and even rejects alcohol.

After several months alcohol is removed to a group of drinker rats for about 4 or 5 days, then it is observed all the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome and rats are desperate to consume again because they are alcohol dependent to function.

What was next?
Our research is focused on identifying mechanisms that make some people in the world not to become an alcoholic even though we did find in their environment alcoholics, what we discovered?
We found that some people metabolize alcohol differently, which helps them to be protected.

In the Asian population, for example, there is a percentage of people who cannot drink alcohol because it causes nausea, headache, flushing and palpitations. This group is protected from 66% to 100% against alcoholism; liver lacks the enzyme that destroys a product generated in our body by consuming alcohol called acetaldehyde. As a result, these people can consume only one third of alcohol compared to people who can drink with normal liver enzyme. Ie, the gene, which generates the normal enzyme, is a permissive gene in alcoholism.

Is this the basis of the investigation?
Exactly. We have developed gene drugs called "antisense" because they block the reading of a gene, in this case, the permissive gene of alcoholism. The liver produces this unpleasant compound and our efforts are aimed at producing genetic drugs that increase levels of acetaldehyde or try to protect this molecule.

How was the experience with rats and gene drugs?
Animals who were given alcohol showed a marked distaste to alcohol after being administered gene drugs. This rejection has the same magnitude as it was observed in Asia in individuals who do not produce the active enzyme. These results demonstrate that gene therapy will be feasible in the future, with the prolonged maintenance of this effect useful for humans.

What results did you find?
We have done both and the result is that animals stop drinking between 50 and 60 percent. Thus, rats become alcohol abusers that may be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy. Animals are no longer so dependent on alcohol. These new gene drugs last from one month to one year with a single injection.

After that, the task would be left to the therapists?
As I pointed out, experience has shown that cognitive behavioral therapies have proven quite effective in early stages of alcoholism. In my case I tried this type of therapy in entire cities and it works great.

At the other extreme, if people go to a level at which virtually they have no control of their needs and are dependent on alcohol, it should be accompanied by therapy with drugs, which must be taken three or four times a day, hampering their success in time.

How much time will it take for these studies to become a real treatment?
For a drug to hit the market needs a lot of investment and almost a decade since animals testing. Consider also that Chile is a very small country and its pharmaceutical industry does very little research. To illustrate this situation I will give you a hint: study in rats costs 1 million dollars a year, to bring a drug for sale costs 999 million dollars.

According to your experience, in how many years we might have a cure for alcoholism?
Never. Our research can help to reduce genetic factors that promote alcoholic behavior. However, we could not control the environmental factors that account for 40%. To be effective, people must be willing to stop being alcoholics. For this universe of people who are willing to give up alcohol, we might have news in 10 or 20 years. However, I have the hope of seeing someone to stop drinking due to our work.

(Articolo pubblicato dal CUFRAD sul sito www.alcolnews.it)