Apremilast, a pill taken to relieve the symptoms of psoriasis, is said to be effective against alcohol addiction.
- Apremilast is a pill prescribed to treat psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
- In mice, the treatment triggered an increase in activity in the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain involved in controlling alcohol consumption.
- Participants who received the drug for 11 days drank half as much alcohol as those who received the placebo.
“Treatment options for alcohol use disorders have made little progress since 2004, while the annual death toll and economic cost have increased alarmingly. Phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) is associated with addiction to alcohol and nicotine. PDE4 inhibitors have been identified as a potential treatment for alcoholism using a novel approach.” wrote researchers from the University of Oregon (USA) in a study published in the journal The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
A reduction in alcohol consumption thanks to apremilast
In this research, the scientists wanted to know if apremilast, a drug used in the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, made it possible to curb the urge to drink alcohol. The team opted for this pill because it is a Food and Drug Administration-approved PDE4 inhibitor.
Initially, this treatment was tested on two animal models that presented a genetic risk of excessive alcohol consumption, as well as on other species of mice in laboratories. According to the results, apremilast reduced excessive alcohol consumption in rodents. The researchers also found that the drug triggered an increase in activity in the nucleus accumbens, a region of the brain involved in controlling alcohol consumption.
Participants went from 5 to 2 drinks of alcohol per day
Next, the team conducted clinical trials on humans. In detail, 51 people were recruited and divided into two groups. The first group received apremilast and the rest of the volunteers received a placebo for 11 days. According to the authors, the treatment reduced alcohol consumption in the participants “not seeking treatment”. On average, adults who received the drug drank half as much alcohol. They went from five to two glasses a day.
“The magnitude of the effect of apremilast in reducing alcohol consumption, combined with its good tolerability in our participants, suggests that it is an excellent candidate for further evaluation as a as a new treatment for people with alcohol use disorders”, concluded Barbara Mason, co-author of the study, in a statement.
