PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Study identifies peptide as key mediator in heavy alcohol drinking

2023-12-01
(Press-News.org) (Boston)—Alcohol is the most common addictive substance in the world. Every year in the U.S. excessive alcohol use costs $249 billion and causes approximately 88,000 deaths, as well as various chronic diseases and social issues. Alcohol use disorder, a highly prevalent, chronic, relapsing disorder, affects more than 14 million people in the U.S. alone, in addition to being severely under-treated, with only three modestly effective pharmacological therapies available.

 

Chronic exposure to alcohol has been shown to produce profound neuroadaptations in specific brain regions, including the recruitment of key stress neurotransmitters, ultimately causing changes in the body that sustain excessive drinking. The area of the brain known as the “bed nucleus of the stria terminalis” (BNST) is critically involved in the behavioral response to stress as well as in chronic, pathological alcohol use.

 

Researchers from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have identified that a peptide called pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), is involved in heavy alcohol drinking. In addition, they have discovered that this peptide acts in the BNST area.

 

Using an established experimental model for heavy, intermittent alcohol drinking, the researchers observed that during withdrawal this model showed increased levels of the stress neuropeptide PACAP selectively in the BNST, compared to the control model.

 

Interestingly, a similar increase was also observed in the levels of another stress neuropeptide closely related to PACAP, the calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP. Both peptides have been implicated in stress as well as pain sensitivity, but their role in alcohol addiction is less established.

 

The researchers then used a virus in a transgenic model to block the neural pathways containing PACAP that specifically arrive to the BNST. "We found that inhibiting PACAP to the BNST dramatically reduced heavy ethanol drinking," explained co-corresponding author Valentina Sabino, PhD, co-director of the School’s Laboratory of Addictive Disorders as well as professor of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics.

 

According to the researchers, these results provide evidence that this protein mediates the addictive properties of alcohol. "We found a key player, PACAP, driving heavy alcohol drinking, which can be targeted for the development of novel pharmacological therapies," added co-corresponding author Pietro Cottone, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics  and co-director of the Laboratory of Addictive Disorders.
 

These findings appear online in the journal eNeuro.

Funding for this study was to grants number AA026051 (PC), AA025038 (VS), and AA024439 (VS) from the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), the Boston University Micro and Nano Imaging Facility and the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (S10OD024993).

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New understanding of oobleck-like fluids contributes to smart material design

New understanding of oobleck-like fluids contributes to smart material design
2023-12-01
If you mix cornstarch and water in the right proportions, you get something that seems not-quite-liquid but also not-quite-solid. Oobleck flows and settles like a liquid when untouched, but stiffens when you try to pick it up or stir it with a spoon. The properties of oobleck and other non-Newtonian fluids — including Silly Putty, quicksand, paint, and yogurt — change under stress or pressure and scientists have long struggled to prove exactly why. Now, researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have used piezoelectric nanoparticles, which themselves change in response to pressure, to investigate the fundamental physics of non-Newtonian ...

Brainstorming with a bot

Brainstorming with a bot
2023-12-01
A researcher has just finished writing a scientific paper. She knows her work could benefit from another perspective. Did she overlook something? Or perhaps there's an application of her research she hadn't thought of. A second set of eyes would be great, but even the friendliest of collaborators might not be able to spare the time to read all the required background publications to catch up. Kevin Yager—leader of the electronic nanomaterials group at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility ...

Hip hop dancing promotes awareness of disability rights and performance equality, study shows

2023-12-01
Hip hop dancing can be used to spread awareness of disability rights and help those with sight problems to participate in performance equally, a new study says.   Breakin’ – which is commonly referred to as breakdancing - is good for mobility and helps promote balance and stability as well as wellbeing.   It also offers an important opportunity for people to slow down and to connect with their inner selves, their feelings, their bodies, and their peers, according to researchers. It has been used to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD.   Nathan Geering, ...

Urgent work needed to tackle “substantial” digital health inequality, study recommends

2023-12-01
Millions of people are suffering from digital health inequality because of poverty, experts have warned. A new study says urgent work is needed to ensure those from deprived areas can access healthcare as the NHS increasingly turns to the use of apps and online health portals for the provision of healthcare. A team of doctors and academics found a “significant association” between increased poverty and reduced use of digital services. Their modelling estimates that this association accounts for 4.27million patients across England who have not downloaded the NHS app. In October 2022 it was estimated more than 37million patients had activated ...

Unlocking the secret strength of marine mussels

2023-12-01
How do you create strong, yet quick-release connections between living and non-living tissues? This is a question that continues to puzzle bioengineers who aim to create materials that bond together for advanced biomedical applications. Looking to nature for inspiration, the McGill-led research zeroed in on the marine mussel byssus, a fibrous holdfast, which these bivalve mollusks use to anchor themselves in seashore habitats. The byssus attaches to rocky surfaces using an underwater glue, but the other end (the byssus stem root) is firmly anchored within the mussel’s soft living tissue. This area of contact between the living ...

When physics meets biology: prion protein orchestrates liquid-liquid phase separation with copper

When physics meets biology: prion protein orchestrates liquid-liquid phase separation with copper
2023-12-01
In a groundbreaking study published in Science Advances, researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE-Berlin) shed light on the intricate dance between the prion protein and copper ions in the physiopathology of live cells. The research paves the way for potential treatments addressing copper-bound prion protein clusters to prevent abnormal solid formation and mitigate neurodegenerative outcomes. Like oil droplets in water, cells harbor membrane-bound organelles that ...

Eminent scientists say a child-centric approach is the blueprint to improve communities

Eminent scientists say a child-centric approach is the blueprint to improve communities
2023-12-01
Communities can prosper by providing attentive education and social services to their youngest residents — but the challenge is for leaders to work together. That is the message of Craig Ramey and Sharon Ramey, Virginia Tech distinguished research professors of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, who today (Dec. 1, 2023) presented details of a decades-long study that focuses on early childhood education and development. In a research article in the journal Medical Research Archives, the official journal of the European Society of Medicine, the scientists discuss lessons ...

Adverse childhood experiences linked to muscle dysmorphia

2023-12-01
Toronto, ON – A new study published in Clinical Social Work Journal found that adolescents and young adults who experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before the age of 18 were significantly more likely to experience symptoms of muscle dysmorphia. With previous research showing that more than half of North American children and adolescents experience at least one adverse childhood experience in their lifetime, these new findings highlight the need for greater awareness of how adverse experiences in childhood (such as domestic violence, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse) and muscle dysmorphia (the pathological ...

New health problems emerge after COVID-19 for those who lack quality housing, health care

2023-12-01
New research from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health suggests that those who live with ongoing poverty and poor housing conditions are more likely to develop new mobility issues following a COVID-19 infection. This study, published in Preventive Medicine, is the first to examine the relationship between social vulnerability and persistent COVID-19 symptoms. In it, researchers analyzed data about socially vulnerable Michigan residents who experienced new difficulty in walking or climbing stairs after ...

Two leading standards bodies launch Neuroscience Community, powering a global data network that will speed up answers in autism, Parkinson’s, addiction, and more

Two leading standards bodies launch Neuroscience Community, powering a global data network that will speed up answers in autism, Parkinson’s, addiction, and more
2023-12-01
The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) and the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) launched a new group to lay the groundwork for connecting global neuroscience and genomic data.  Answering data-driven questions in neuroscience means dealing with complexity: in types of data, data management systems, the number and variety of conditions, ethical and legal requirements, and the genetic and biological conditions themselves. Even just aligning industry standards for neuroimaging and genomics can be a struggle. To improve life for people with neurological conditions, we need to tackle the complexity together. The new GA4GH & INCF Neuroscience ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Combination of mini-camera and AI predicts recurrent heart attack

Study Reveals Details of Overactive Immune System in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

UTSA and UT Health San Antonio complete merger to become The University of Texas at San Antonio

Helicobacter pylori screening after acute myocardial infarction

Solar Orbiter traces superfast electrons back to Sun

GaN-based electron beam technology from Nagoya University startup poised to overcome critical semiconductor manufacturing challenges at KIOXIA

Circle versus rectangle: Finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape

Metformin changes blood metal levels in humans

Long-term anticoagulation discontinuation after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Fractional flow reserve–guided complete vs culprit-only revascularization in non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease

Participation of women in cardiovascular trials from 2017 to 2023

Semaglutide and tirzepatide in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Changes in biology of internal fat may be the leading cause of heart failure

Transcatheter or surgical treatment of patients with aortic stenosis at low to intermediate risk

Promising new drug for people with stubborn high blood pressure

One shot of RSV vaccine effective against hospitalization in older adults for two seasons

Bivalent RSV prefusion F protein–based vaccine for preventing cardiovascular hospitalizations in older adults

Clonal hematopoiesis and risk of new-onset myocarditis and pericarditis

Risk of myocarditis or pericarditis with high-dose vs standard-dose influenza vaccine

High-dose vs standard-dose influenza vaccine and cardiovascular outcomes in older adults

Prevalence, determinants, and time trends of cardiovascular health in the WHO African region

New study finds that, after a heart attack, women have worse prognosis when treated with beta-blockers

CNIC-led REBOOT clinical trial challenges 40-year-old standard of care for heart attack patients

Systolic blood pressure and microaxial flow pump–associated survival in infarct-related cardiogenic shock

Beta blockers, the standard treatment after a heart attack, may offer no benefit for heart attack patients and women can have worse outcomes

High Mountain Asia’s shrinking glaciers linked to monsoon changes

All DRII-ed up: How do plants recover after drought?

Research on stigma says to just ‘shake it off’

Scientists track lightning “pollution” in real time using NASA satellite

Millions of women rely on contraceptives, but new Rice study shows they may do more than just prevent pregnancy

[Press-News.org] Study identifies peptide as key mediator in heavy alcohol drinking