The multifaceted potential of the lipid transmitter oleoylethanolamide to treat alcohol-induced neuroinflammation and alcohol use disorders
Laura Orio
摘要：Is there a need for new pharmacotherapies to treat alcohol use disor-ders (AUDs)? AUD is a highly prevalent condition in the world popu-lation that causes medical, psychological, personal, social and economic problems. The most severe dimension of AUDs is alcohol dependence, a condition in which individuals lose control over alcohol intake de-spite the negative consequences. Although some medications have been approved for this purpose, existing pharmacotherapies are not effective for all people due to the heterogeneity of AUDs. Current approved medications include: Disulfiram (Antabuse?), which induces an aver-sion to drink by increasing alcohol metabolism-derived acetaldehyde;Naltrexone (ReVia?, Vivitrol?), a competitive opioid antagonist for μ-receptors that decreases heavy drinking and prevents relapse; Acam-prosate (Campral?), an indirect partial agonist at N-methyl-D-aspartic acid glutamate receptors and antagonist at metabotropic glutamate receptors that is used to prevent relapse in detoxified alcoholics. Strong efforts to develop new medication are ongoing, with multiple pharma-cological targets being explored. Whereas initial medical development for AUDs focused on the binge/intoxicating state of addiction, current challenges involve finding new targets for the craving and withdrawal/negative emotional states of addictive behaviour. Thus, extensive re-search is currently looking for new drugs that correct the dysfunction of the reward and stress systems by improving the motivational signs of withdrawal, which are a hallmark of alcohol dependence. Some new targets, such as γ-aminobutyric acid or glucocorticoid receptors, have shown their efcacy not only in preclinical models but also in human laboratory models (Gabapentin and Mifeprestone, respectively) (Koob and Mason, 2016).
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论文发表日期：2020-01-01
在线出版日期：2025-08-15（本平台首次上网日期，不代表文献的发表时间）
页数：2( 71-72 )