April 18, 2024

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This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication

This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication



 

This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication.

As we all know, drinking alcohol is harmful to health .

Excessive drinking will have a negative impact on health, induce a series of chronic diseases, such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, nervous system diseases, and even increase the risk of various cancers such as gastric cancer and liver cancer.

 

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) , characterized by a chronic relapse following a period of abstinence, has become one of the major public health problems worldwide.

The most important way to successfully treat alcohol use disorder is to prevent high alcohol cravings and relapses. Unfortunately, there are currently no satisfactory medical interventions to prevent alcohol addiction relapse.

 

Interestingly, the liver of humans and primates produces a hormone called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) , which suppresses alcohol intake in primates.

 

On March 7, 2023, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center published a research paper entitled: FGF21 counteracts alcohol intoxication by activating the noradrenergic nervous system in the Cell sub-journal Cell Metabolism .

 

The research team found that fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) can protect mice from alcohol-induced loss of balance and turning reflex, and therefore, can serve as a potential drug target for the treatment of acute alcoholism.

 

The study shows that not only is the liver involved in alcohol metabolism, but it also sends the hormone FGF21 to the brain to protect against the harmful effects of alcoholism, including loss of consciousness and loss of physical coordination .

The study further demonstrated that increasing levels of FGF21 by injection can significantly accelerate recovery from intoxication , and that FGF21 does this by activating norepinephrine in the brain’s locus coeruleus (LC) region that controls alertness. realized by neurons .

 

This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication

 

 

It’s not just humans who get drunk or alcohol poisoned, but animals in nature too.

This is because there may also be ethanol (alcohol) produced by the natural fermentation of simple sugars in ripe fruits and nectar , causing animals to appear alcoholic after eating, impairing their mobility and judgment. In response, they have evolved liver enzymes that break down alcohol.

 

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a hormone expressed in the liver, where it is induced by various metabolic stresses, including starvation, protein deprivation, simple sugars, and ethanol.

In humans, ethanol is the most potent inducer of FGF21 found so far.

Previous studies have shown that FGF21 suppresses ethanol preference, induces water drinking to prevent dehydration, and protects against ethanol-induced liver injury.

 

In February 2022, researchers from the University of Iowa published a research paper entitled: FGF21 suppresses alcohol consumption through an amygdalo-striatal circuit on Cell Metabolism .

The study showed that injecting FGF21 or its analogues into non-human primates can reduce alcohol intake by 50% , therefore, FGF21 has the potential to treat excessive drinking.

 

This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication

 

 

In this latest study, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found that FGF21 plays a broader role than previously thought in protecting against the harmful consequences of ethanol exposure.

 

In mice, FGF21 was able to stimulate sobriety after intoxication without altering ethanol breakdown.

Mice lacking FGF21 took longer than littermates to recover their loss of balance and turning reflex after exposure to ethanol.

Conversely, injecting FGF21 reduced the time it took for mice to recover from loss of consciousness and muscle coordination induced by intoxication.

 

The research team further found that FGF21 did not neutralize the tranquilizers such as ketamine, diazepam or pentobarbital.

Therefore, FGF21 does not act by desedation, but specifically acts on ethanol.

Specifically, FGF21 mediates its anti-drunk effects by directly activating noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) region of the brain, which regulate arousal and alertness .

 

This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication

 

 

Taken together, these results suggest that FGF21 exerts both alcohol abstinence and hangover effects.

The liver-brain pathway of FGF21 evolved to protect against ethanol-induced intoxication and may serve as a drug target for the treatment of acute alcoholism.

This pathway may regulate various cognitive and affective functions to enhance survival under stressful conditions.

 

However, whether activation of noradrenergic neurons contributes to other effects of FGF21, including effects on metabolism, ethanol and sweet taste preference, remains to be determined.

Although both FGF21 and noradrenergic neuronal activity are induced by ethanol, further studies are needed to determine whether the antialcoholism activity of FGF21 applies to humans.

 

Finally, Professor David Mangelsdorf , the corresponding author of the paper , said that this study shows that the brain is the main site of action of FGF21 effects.

The research team is currently exploring more deeply the neuronal pathways through which FGF21 plays a role in wakefulness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paper link :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2023.02.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2021.12.024

This medicine can significantly speed up recovery from intoxication

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