Babylon
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 5, 2009
- 1,332
- 82
Vaccine for alcoholics works by making you feel sick after one drink
Last updated at 4:41 PM on 7th January 2011
Alcoholics can build up a strong tolerance to the effects of drink over time thanks to an enzyme in the liver. The new vaccine would disrupt this
Scientists have come up with a novel way to help alcoholics quit - by creating a vaccine that gives the sensation of a terrible hangover after just a few drinks.
Researchers from Chile said the jab works by neutralising a group of enzymes that help the body to break down alcohol.
This group known as aldehyde dehydrogenase, helps the body to build up a tolerance to heavy nights out.
About 20 percent of the Asian population lacks this enzyme and thus experience 'such a strong reaction that it discourages consumption,' said lead researcher Juan Asenio, of Chile's Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics.
The vaccine would similarly increase nausea, an accelerated heart beat, sweating and a general feeling of 'unease'.
'With the vaccine, the desire to consume alcohol will be greatly reduced thanks to these reactions,' Mr Asenjo told Radio Cooperativa.
He added that the jab would specifically target liver cells and avoid having a knock-on effect on other cells.
Researchers have already successfully tested the vaccine on rats who were dependent on alcohol and got them to halve their consumption.
They will conduct further animal tests this year before launching human trials in 2012.
Mr Asenjo said they hoped the jab would reduce alcohol consumption by 90 to 95 per cent.
It comes just a day after U.S researchers revealed they had developed a vaccine that could help cocaine addicts to break and their costly habit.
The team from Weill Cornell Medical College produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a jab that combined part of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.
Study leader, Dr Ronald Crystal, said: 'Our very dramatic data shows that we can protect mice against the effects of cocaine, and we think this approach could be very promising in fighting addiction in humans.'
He said the antibody immune response produced in lab mice by the vaccine binds to, cocaine molecules before the drug reached the brains of the animals - preventing any cocaine-related hyperactivity.
Last updated at 4:41 PM on 7th January 2011
Scientists have come up with a novel way to help alcoholics quit - by creating a vaccine that gives the sensation of a terrible hangover after just a few drinks.
Researchers from Chile said the jab works by neutralising a group of enzymes that help the body to break down alcohol.
This group known as aldehyde dehydrogenase, helps the body to build up a tolerance to heavy nights out.
About 20 percent of the Asian population lacks this enzyme and thus experience 'such a strong reaction that it discourages consumption,' said lead researcher Juan Asenio, of Chile's Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics.
The vaccine would similarly increase nausea, an accelerated heart beat, sweating and a general feeling of 'unease'.
'With the vaccine, the desire to consume alcohol will be greatly reduced thanks to these reactions,' Mr Asenjo told Radio Cooperativa.
He added that the jab would specifically target liver cells and avoid having a knock-on effect on other cells.
Researchers have already successfully tested the vaccine on rats who were dependent on alcohol and got them to halve their consumption.
They will conduct further animal tests this year before launching human trials in 2012.
Mr Asenjo said they hoped the jab would reduce alcohol consumption by 90 to 95 per cent.
It comes just a day after U.S researchers revealed they had developed a vaccine that could help cocaine addicts to break and their costly habit.
The team from Weill Cornell Medical College produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a jab that combined part of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.
Study leader, Dr Ronald Crystal, said: 'Our very dramatic data shows that we can protect mice against the effects of cocaine, and we think this approach could be very promising in fighting addiction in humans.'
He said the antibody immune response produced in lab mice by the vaccine binds to, cocaine molecules before the drug reached the brains of the animals - preventing any cocaine-related hyperactivity.
