Chlorzoxazone effectively inhibits alcohol abuse

According to researcher Woody Hopf, Chlorzoxazone works effectively to prevent alcohol abuse in patients, without leading to adverse or unpleasant side effects.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of Chlorzoxazone for the treatment of alcoholic patients, Chlorzoxazone, which is used to relieve pain and reduce rhabdomyolysis. Currently, the drug is considered to be capable of treating alcoholics, based on clinical trials in laboratory mice, performed by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Hospital and the University Research Center. University of California, San Francisco, USA.

Chlorzoxazone, which significantly reduces the consumption of alcohol on the experiment in mice, according to Woody Hopf, the author of the experiment, is one of the researchers at Ernest Gallo Hospital and the University Research Center. University of California , San Francisco, USA, and assistant professor of neurology at UCSF University.

The results of the study are published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry , published on January 3, 2011.

Woody Hopf and colleagues found that, among mice that were trained to drink large amounts of heavy alcohol, alcohol altered the SK - potassium channel (SK) function in the limbic brain regions. Meanwhile, Chlorzoxazone has a positive effect on health, can enhance SK function and reduce neurological activity, leading to reduced alcohol consumption. The effects of this drug occur in accumbens, a region of the brain that governs the craving behavior for alcohol and other drugs in rodents as well as in humans.

The ability to reduce nerve stimulation of Chlorzoxazone is very important, Hopf explained, " because neurons are more excitable in the nucleus of accumbens, the more neurotransmitters from addictive substances, the There are many possibilities for addiction and addiction behavior . "

Applying his previous research results to the current study, Hopf found that mice that had a habit of drinking too much alcohol in the SK channels of mice had less nerve cells than mice. In the current study, Hopf demonstrated that, when the SK channels of alcoholic mice were activated, it could enhance SK function and reduce neuronal activity, leading to reduced drinking. Alcohol in alcoholic mice.

Woody Hopf found that Chlorzoxazone works effectively to prevent alcohol abuse in patients, without leading to adverse or unpleasant side effects .