A Pill to Prevent Alcoholism?

You are eating a giant piece of chocolate cake. Now take away the sugar. Without the sugar you would probably not eat more cake. This is the general idea behind the drug Naltrexone, which is currently being used to treat alcoholics. It is believed that the drug works partially by making alcohol taste bad.

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, which means it decreases the "high" a person feels from being drunk by blocking the release of certain chemicals in the brain. It takes the fun out of being drunk.

Stephen W. Kiefer, K-State's Psychology Department Head, is performing research to further understand how Naltrexone affects the taste of alcohol and the brain and how it can be used to fight alcoholism.

He wants his research to lead to a pill to treat people who have a problem with alcohol or who perhaps have a high risk of becoming alcoholics, such as a person with two alcoholic parents.

"The combination of reduced enjoyment and bad taste relative to alcohol ingestion would seem to be a good combination punch to keep people with alcohol problems from drinking," said Kiefer.

Alcoholics are currently being treated with Naltrexone because it reduces the craving for alcohol. It also helps people drink less if they have a relapse.

"If Naltrexone can render the taste of alcohol as aversive, then it would seem to be a good treatment for keeping recovering alcoholics from drinking," said Kiefer.

Kiefer is researching testing how drugs like Naltrexone affect the opioid receptors using studies on rats.

The first step in Kiefer's research was to analyze a rat's reaction to taste of alcohol. He needed to be able to tell the difference between when something tastes good or bad to a rat.

Kiefer infected injected various fluids alcohol solutions into a rats rat's mouth and then videotaped their reactions. A rat has very distinct actions mouth and tongue movements that let the researchers know if something tastes bad or good to them. These reactions are close to the reactions of humans.

If a fluid tastes good, the rat will lick its lips repeatedly. A bad tasting fluid will cause the rat to shake its head and lick its paws, trying to get as much of the fluid out of its mouth as possible. Also, the rat will pucker up its mouth when it does not like the taste.

Kiefer and his assistants watch each video frame by frame and count the number of times a rat has a specific reaction and record the results.

Then, Kiefer tested the Naltrexone on the rats and found they showed a dislike of the taste of alcohol and that they drank less alcohol when given the drug.

Lastly, he tested Naltrexone on alcoholic rats, rats obtained from special breeding colonies. To make a bloodline of alcoholic rats, researchers find the rats that like alcohol and breed them. The results are alcoholic type rats.

The Naltrexone had little effect on the taste of alcohol in these rats. Yet, it did decrease the amount the animals drank, which leads Kiefer to believe there are different opioid receptors governing taste and consumption.

A side effect of drugs like Naltrexone is a decrease in the enjoyment of ordinary activities. For example, activities such as laughing with friends, that usually feel good are not quite as enjoyable and the drugs can make other foods taste bad.

Kiefer's next step in his research is to lessen these side effects by differentiating between the opioid receptors that affect taste, consumption, and other behaviors. and those that affect consumption. Kiefer's work is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Prepared by Nanette Jones