Novel medication targets for the treatment of alcoholism: preclinical studies.

Novel medication targets for the treatment of alcoholism: preclinical studies. Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov. 2012 Aug;7(2):151-62 Authors: Rezvani AH, Lawrence AJ, Arolfo MP, Levin ED, Overstreet DH Abstract Alcoholism is a complex heterogeneous disease and a number of neurotransmitter and neuromodulator systems have been implicated in its manifestation. Consequently, it is unlikely that existing medications such as disulfiram (Antabuse®), naltrexone (ReVia®), acamprosate (Campral®)) can be efficacious in every individual. Thus, the development of novel therapeutic agents with greater selectivity and less unwanted effects for the treatment of this disease is one of the major objectives of alcohol research. This review summarizes the findings of five novel compounds with different neuronal targets for treating alcoholism. These compounds include sazetidine-A, which selectively desensitizes α4β2 nicotinic receptors; carisbamate, a novel anti-epileptic agent; JNJ5234801, a novel anxiolytic agent; GS-455534, a highly selective inhibitor of mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase; and JNJ-39220675, a selective histamine H3 antagonist. Inbred alcohol-preferring rats (iP), Fawn-Hooded (FH) rats, and P rats were used to evaluate the compounds. Naltrexone was used as a positive control in some experiments. All five compounds reduced alcohol consumption and preference. The mechanisms thought to underlie these effects suggest that, in addition ...
Source: Recent Patents on CNS Drug Discovery - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov Source Type: research