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UCSF Gallo study finds hormone disorder drug could help drinkers stay sober |
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February 23, 2009
Source: Jennifer O’Brien
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 A drug prescribed for male and female infertility and menstrual disorders could hold the key to a more effective treatment for alcoholism, according to a study by researchers at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center.
The study showed that “alcoholic” rodents, when injected with the drug cabergoline, decreased their alcohol consumption and alcohol-seeking behavior and were less likely to relapse.
Cabergoline, which is marketed under the trade name Dostinex, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration in pill form to treat conditions caused by excess of the hormone prolactin.
The study, led by Dorit Ron, PhD, a principal investigator at the Gallo Center and associate professor of neurology at UCSF, is now on line (February 20, 2009), in the journal “Biological Psychiatry.”
Read Full Article
Publication:
Sebastien Carnicella, Somayeh Ahmadiantehrani, Dao-Yao He, Carsten K. Nielsen, Selena E. Bartlett, Patricia H. Janak and Dorit Ron, Cabergoline Decreases Alcohol Drinking and Seeking Behaviors Via Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Feb 19. [Epub ahead of print] doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.12.022 |
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Kay Tye from Gallo Center wins Donald B. Lindsley Prize |
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TYE AND NARAYANAN RECEIVE DONALD B. LINDSLEY PRIZE
Researchers recognized for outstanding thesis in behavioral neuroscience
CHICAGO - The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has awarded the Donald B. Lindsley Prize to Kay M. Tye, PhD, and Nandakumar Narayanan, MD, PhD, during Neuroscience 2009, SfN's annual meeting and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Supported by The Grass Foundation, the prize, which includes $2,500, recognizes an outstanding PhD thesis in the area of general behavioral neuroscience. The award was established in 1979 in honor of Donald B. Lindsley, PhD, who was one of the early trustees of The Grass Foundation.
"The Society for Neuroscience is proud to support young researchers and believes this recognition is critical for strengthening the field of neuroscience," said Thomas J. Carew, PhD, president of SfN.
Tye, who completed her doctoral studies at the University of California, San Francisco, focused her thesis research on investigating the neural basis of cue-reward learning, which may also underlie destructive behaviors such as eating disorders and drug addiction. Her studies demonstrate the role of the amygdala in emotional learning and offer physiological evidence of behavioral concepts.
Narayanan completed his thesis research at Yale University, studying cognitive control functions. He identified a role for the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in suppressing inappropriate brain responses by recording from brain cells during response delays.
The Society for Neuroscience is an organization of more than 39,000 researchers and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.
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Genetic markers identified for alcohol response in UCSF Gallo study |
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9 December 2008
Source: Kristen Bole
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415-476-2557
 Researchers at the UCSF Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center have identified a region on the human genome that appears to determine how strongly drinkers feel the effects of alcohol and thus how prone they are to alcohol abuse.
The researchers found that a DNA sequence variation, known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on chromosome 15 is significantly associated with the level of response to alcohol and could signal the genetic factors that affect alcohol abuse, according to findings published in the Dec. 8 online edition of the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” <read more>
Publication:
Geoff Joslyn, Gerry Brush, Margaret Robertson, Tom L. Smith, Jelger Kalmijn, March Schuckit, and Raymond L. White. Chromosome 15q25.1 genetic markers associated with level of response to alcohol in humans. PNAS December 8, 2008. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0810970105. |
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UCSF Researchers Make Headway with Potential Alcoholism Drug |
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Tuesday, 4 November 2008
By Robin Hindery
 In a groundbreaking drug study using mice and rats, two members of UCSF’s Neurology department have tapped into a potential new treatment for alcoholism in humans.
Robert Messing, MD, professor of neurology and associate director of UCSF’s Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, and Philip Newton, PhD, assistant adjunct professor of neurology and associate investigator at the Emeryville-based research center, tested an existing drug that blocks the N-type calcium channel, a molecular switch in the brain that enables alcohol to produce its intoxicating effects. <Full article>Publication: Newton PM, Zeng L, Wang V,Connolly J, Wallace MJ, Kim C, Shin HS, Belardetti F, Snutch TP, Messing RO. A Blocker of N- and T-type Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels Attenuates Ethanol-Induced Intoxication, Place Preference, Self-Administration, and Reinstatement. J. Neurosci. 28(45):11712-11719, 2008. |
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New Drug Candidate to Treat Alcoholism Hits a Different Target in the Brain |
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Friday, 12 September 2008
by Jeff Norris
 Rats that drink like humans afflicted with alcoholism cut their drinking dramatically when treated with a new drug prototype — even after treatment ends.
According to a new report by researchers at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, rats treated with an experimental compound dubbed SoRI-9409 drank less than similarly addicted rats treated with naltrexone, the best drug now on the market to treat alcoholism.
This success in curbing drinking in rats is based on new thinking about which pathways and molecules in the brain ought to be targeted to treat alcohol addiction. <Full article>
Also featured in Scientific American, and Yahoo! News.
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Many Recovering Alcoholics Depend on Coffee, Cigarettes |
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18 July 2008
But smoking may increase the likelihood of relapse, expert says.
Of the more than 1 million Americans who join Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), almost all drink coffee and close to 60 percent smoke, Vanderbilt University researchers report.
Most recovering alcoholics drink coffee for its stimulatory effects, and smoking reduces feelings of depression, anxiety and irritability, the researchers noted.
"Normally, coffee drinking and cigarette smoking go together," said lead researcher Dr. Peter R. Martin, director of the Vanderbilt Addiction Center. "But recovering alcoholics tend to smoke less than drink coffee." <Full article>
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Variability in reward learning performance often translates to life-long patterns of success or failure |
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15 July 2008
Some individuals earn rewards more successfully than others, but it has been unclear what brain changes underlie these differences. Tye et al. report that reward learning performance depends upon increased activity and synaptic strength in the amygdala, a brain area important for emotional learning. The level of learning attained by individual animals was strongly correlated with the degree of synaptic strength enhancement. This enhanced understanding of brain changes during reward learning will aid the development of therapeutic interventions for deficits in natural reward learning or cases of aberrant reward learning, such as drug addiction, or eating disorders. <article> |
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Excessive Drinking and Relapse Rapidly Cut in New Approach |
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9 January 2008
Source: Wallace Ravven
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415-476-2557
Boosting the level of a specific brain protein quickly cut excessive drinking of alcohol in a new animal study, and also prevented relapse -- the common tendency found in sober alcoholics to easily return to heavy drinking after just one glass. In addition, the treatment did not block other “pleasure-seeking behaviors” -- in this case, craving sweets. Interference with these normal behaviors has been a problem with drugs developed for alcoholism treatment. Nor did the brain chemical boost appear to carry any side effects, the study researchers report. The findings are being published June 9 in “The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” The research by scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center builds on their earlier work. In 2005, they reported the first hints that increased levels of this brain protein, known as GDNF, cut down alcohol consumption. The new study established how quickly the effect kicks in, and shows for the first time that the chemical blocks relapse and does not interfere with normal cravings. The research also pinpointed the brain site where GDNF acts to control drinking. Read More |
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The Gallo Center awarded prestigious grant from the NIAAA |
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29 May 2008
The Gallo Center recently was awarded a prestigious five-year specialized Center Grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). This multi-component project will be directed by Dr. Robert O. Messing, Associate Director of the Gallo Center. This is the largest competitive grant the Center has received in its 28 year history.
The NIAAA currently funds 7 specialized research centers through their center grant program. Most of these centers are located at major research universities. The Gallo Center is the only NIAAA center located at an independent research institute.
The Gallo Center Grant research project has two major themes:
- To study novel proteins to determine whether they or the signaling pathways in which they participate contain potential drug targets for treating alcohol use disorders.
- To investigate whether the genes that encode these proteins are associated with risk of alcoholism in humans.
This Center Grant will fund a unique center for the detailed study across species of novel genes that may lead to the development of new approaches for preventing and treating alcohol use disorders in humans.
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Drug to curb smoking also cuts alcohol dependence |
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9 July 2007
Source: Wallace Ravven
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415-476-2557
A drug already approved for nicotine addiction als curbs alcohol dependence, a new animal study shows. One dose alone cut drinking in half. The finding is particularly encouraging, the researchers say, because the animals did not turn to drinking in excess after the drug was stopped, a common pattern when people take current drugs to curb alcohol consumption.
In addition, the drug did not kill appetite, which the most effective drug to curb alcohol dependence does.
In the study, rats had access to unlimited amounts of alcohol. Under these conditions, they steadily increased their alcohol intake over several months. But the first day they received the drug, they cut their drinking in half. They received the drug every day fro a week, and during this period, maintained their lower level. When the drug was discontinued, they returned to their previous levels - but no higher. Read More
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Brain imaging and genetic studies link thinking patterns to addiction |
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25 December 2007
Source: Wallace Ravven
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415-476-2557
 Scientists have for the first time identified brain sites that fire up more when people make impulsive decisions. In a study comparing brain activity of sober alcoholics and non-addited people making financial decisions, the group of sober alcoholics showed significantly more "implusive" neural activity.
The researchers also discovered that a specific gene mutation boosted activity in these brains regions when people made impulsive choices. The mutation was already known to reduce brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The newly found link involving the gene, impulsive behavior and brain activity suggests that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction, the scientists say.
The research is report in the Dec. 26, 2007 issued of the "Journal of Neuroscience".
Lead scientist is Charlotte Boettiger, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Boettiger led the research as a scientist at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center. Senior author is Howard Fields, MD, PhD, a UCSF professor of neurology and an investigator in the Gallo Center. He also serves as director of the UCSF Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction. Read More
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Morphine dependency blocked by single genetic change |
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28 January 2008
Source: Wallace Ravven
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
415-476-2557
Morphine’s
serious side effect as a pain killer – its potential to create
dependency – has been almost completely eliminated in research with
mice by genetically modifying a single trait on the surface of neurons.
The study scientists think a drug can be developed to similarly block
dependency.
The
research was published online January 17 by “Current Biology” and
appears in the journal’s January 23 print edition. The scientists were
led by Jennifer Whistler, PhD, an investigator in the UCSF-affiliated
Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, and associate professor of
neurology at UCSF.
Millions
of people in the U.S. are given the opiate drug morphine for extreme
pain caused by cancer, surgery, nerve damage and other conditions. It
remains the pain killer of choice for many types of short-term pain,
such as surgery, according to Whistler, but it is less useful for the
treatment of chronic pain because its effectiveness decreases with
continued use in a process called tolerance. As a consequence, an
increasingly larger dose is required to treat the pain, thereby
increasing the chance of addiction. Read More
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Alcoholism: Vice or Disease? A Conversation with Howard Fields Part 3 of 3 |
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19 April 2007
By Jeff Miller
 "And what is will power but just another manifestation of nerve cell activity?"
With this question in part one of Addiction: Vice or Disease?, neuroscientist Howard Fields — a senior researcher at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center and director of UCSF's Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction — tossed a torch onto the dry grass of behavioral modification. Only time and the success or failure of new anti-addiction drugs will determine if such incendiary remarks will ignite renewed debate or just flame out.
In the meantime, Fields continues to fire away at the status quo.
"Most treatment programs for alcoholics don't use a lot of medication," he says. "They use detoxification and cognitive behavioral transformation, like the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This is fine. Many people are helped, but relapse is very common. What I'd like to see is more clinical research. The biggest hurdle is that not everyone in the medical profession has yet to buy into the fact that addiction is really a disease of the nervous system. It's exciting, of course, that all the science is inevitably going to lead to some new treatments (some of which were mentioned in part two of Addiction: Vice or Disease?). And I think that after one or two truly effective drugs come along, people's attitudes toward alcoholism will change just like they did about depression when antidepressants came out. But," he adds, "what good is a new medication if the treatment community doesn't want to use it?" Read More |
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UCSF research pinpoints brain molecule's role in developing addiction |
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15 February 2006
 A molecule in the brain essential for wakefulness and appetite has been found to play a central role in strengthening the neuron connections that lead to addiction. The discovery of how the neuropeptide orexin works at the molecular level makes it a strong new target for potential drugs to treat addiction, the researchers say.
The discovery by neuroscientists at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center is being reported February 16 in the journal Neuron.
The research focused on orexin's role in strengthening communication between neurons that release dopamine, a brain chemical central to learning and memory. The strengthened communication is known to play a key role in the experience of a drug high and subsequent drug craving.
Orexin is produced in the brain's lateral hypothalmus (LH) region. The scientists demonstrated in studies of rats that orexin acutely enhances the ability of receptors at dopamine neuron synapses – known as NMDA receptors – to promote the release of dopamine. Read More |
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Controversial drug shown to act on brain protein to cut alcohol use |
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18 January 2005
A naturally occurring hallucinogen advocated by some clinicians as a potent anti-addiction drug has been rigorously studied for the first time, confirming its ability to block alcohol craving in rodents, and clarifying how it works in the brain. The new research findings about the drug Ibogaine open the way for development of other drugs to reverse addiction without Ibogaine's side effects, potentially adding to the small arsenal of drugs that effectively combat addiction.
Derived from a West African shrub, Ibogaine has been championed for years by a cadre of clinicians and drug treatment advocates impressed with its ability to reverse withdrawal symptoms and craving for alcohol and various drugs of abuse. It has been used outside of the U.S. to treat addiction by American and other clinicians. But its side effects, including hallucinations, which made it popular in the 1960s drug culture, and evidence of toxicity to certain nerve cells in rodent studies have discouraged careful studies of its clinical potential against drug and alcohol addiction. The FDA has not approved use of Ibogaine in the U.S.
Scientists at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center have now shown definitively in experiments with mice and rats that Ibogaine does reduce alcohol consumption, and they have determined that it does so by increasing the level of a brain protein known as glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, or GDNF. In a separate study, they demonstrated that GDNF by itself decreases alcohol consumption. Read More |
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