Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists have been found to reduce alcohol use in rodents and overweight individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, low doses of semaglutide (semaglutide), a potent inhibitor of GLP-1, have been shown to reduce alcohol use in rodents and overweight individuals with AUD. The probability that an agonist with high potency and affinity for GLP-1R) attenuates alcohol-related responses in rodents, as well as the underlying neurological mechanisms, are unknown.
Somallutide, a drug currently used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, may be an effective treatment for alcohol dependence. in a study published in the international journal eBioMedicine titled “Semaglutide Reduces Alcohol Intake and Relapse-like Drinking in Male and Female Rats,” Scientists from the University of Gothenburg and other institutions have found that somallutide may reduce alcohol relapse and alcohol intake in rats by more than half.
Demand for somallutide, sold under brand names such as Ozempic (semaglutide), has increased since the drug was approved for the treatment of obesity, which has recently made it very difficult to obtain it; There have also been anecdotal reports of people with obesity or diabetes saying that their cravings for alcohol decreased after they started taking the drug. Nowadays, individuals with alcohol dependence are treated with a combination of psychosocial approaches and drugs. There are currently four approved drugs. Since alcohol dependence is a disease with multiple causes and varying efficacy of these drugs, the development of more therapeutic methods is particularly important.
Somallutide is a long-acting drug that patients only need to take once a week, and it is the first drug to act on the GLP-1 receptor that can be taken as a tablet. In the study, researchers treated alcohol-dependent rats with somalutide, which significantly reduced the rats’ alcohol intake and even reduced the drinking associated with relapse, a major problem for people with alcohol dependence because individuals relapse after a period of abstinence and consume more alcohol than they did before abstinence. The treated rats were able to reduce their alcohol intake by half compared to untreated rats, the researchers said. An interesting finding in the study was that somallutide reduced alcohol intake equally in male and female rats.
The study also reported a surprisingly good effect, although clinical studies of somallutide are still a long way off before it can be used to treat alcohol dependence; Going forward, the drug may be most beneficial for people with overweight and alcohol dependence, and the researchers say the results may carry over to humans, as other studies of alcohol dependence drugs using related research models suggest that humans may have similar therapeutic effects or effects as rats. Professor Elisabet Jerlhag says that, of course, there are differences between studies conducted in animals and humans, and researchers must always take these differences into account; In this case, however, a previous study in humans showed that an older version of a diabetes drug that acts on GLP-1 was found to reduce alcohol intake in overweight individuals with alcohol dependence.
The current study also examined why the drug somallutide reduces individual alcohol consumption, suggesting that reducing alcohol-induced brain rewards and punishments may be a contributing factor; In the paper, the researchers found that it affects the reward and punishment system of the mouse brain. More specifically, it affects the nucleus accumbens area, which is part of the limbic system. The researchers believe that alcohol activates the brain’s reward and punishment system, leading to the release of dopamine, which can be seen in humans and animals, and this process is blocked after the mice were treated, which may lead to less alcohol-induced reward and punishment in the body, the researchers believe.
In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that somallutide can reduce alcohol drinking behavior, which may be mediated by the reduction of alcohol-induced reward/punishment mechanism and the mechanism of nucleus accumbens. “As somallutide also reduced body weight in both sexes of alcohol-drinking rats, future clinical studies will examine the efficacy of somallutide in reducing alcohol intake and body weight in overweight patients with alcohol use disorder.”
Post time: Nov-07-2023