NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY TO COMBAT ALCOHOL-RELATED DISORDERS

Description

Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor and causes various diseases, resulting in approximately 3 million deaths annually worldwide. In Europe, it accounts for more than 7% of health problems and premature deaths. Despite its socioeconomic impact, few pharmacological treatments are available and their effectiveness is limited. Naltrexone, a mu-opioid receptor antagonist, is one of the most widely used medications, although with modest results. Recent research points to neuropeptides as key players in disorders such as alcoholism. In animal models, the Galanin (1-15) fragment has been shown to significantly reduce alcohol consumption and cravings. Furthermore, its combination with mu-opioid antagonists, such as naltrexone, could enhance these effects. This invention proposes the combined use of Galanin (1-15) and mu-opioid receptor antagonists as an effective strategy to rapidly and significantly reduce alcohol consumption and cravings.

Advantages

- Currently, there are very few drugs approved for the treatment of alcoholism, but none have been proven truly effective. The emergence of a pharmacological strategy capable of rapidly reducing alcohol preference and consumption, as demonstrated in preclinical studies, would be a major advantage for the treatment of alcoholism and its associated pathologies.

- Given that the effect of combining Galanin (1-15) with Mu-opioid receptor antagonists, such as Naltrexone, in alcoholism appears to be related to a depletion of the natural reinforcement system, its use would not only help reduce alcohol consumption but also reduce the consumption of other substances of abuse that are consumed concomitantly.