Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University in the USA have discovered that Apremilast, a drug used to treat the common skin disease psoriasis, could well become a treatment for disorders arising from alcohol use.
Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the study analysed the potential effects of the drug to treat alcohol spectrum disorder.
Tests carried out in the study showed that Apremilast helped to reduce the alcohol consumption of subjects by more than half, with people taking the drug dropping from five drinks a day to two, RTBF reports.
Kolter Grigsby, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in OHSU's Ozburn Lab and the lead author of the study, said that the research team has been studying compounds that may counteract the expression of genes known to be linked to heavy alcohol consumption since 2015.
Further testing needed
After laboratory tests on mice, another team focused on human tests to prove the drug's effectiveness. A team from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, tested 51 people with alcohol use disorders who were not seeking any form of treatment for 11 days. They were divided into two groups: one was given a placebo while members of the other group were given 90 mg/d of Apremilast.
"The magnitude of the effect of Apremilast on reducing alcohol consumption, combined with its good tolerance in our participants, suggests that it is an excellent candidate for further evaluation as a new treatment for people with alcohol use disorders," Barbara Mason, professor in Scripps' Department of Molecular Medicine, was quoted as saying in the journal.
The researchers conclude in their study that more clinical tests in humans are needed to ensure the true safe efficacy of this drug in reducing alcohol use disorders.
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The Apremilast study could be seen as a ray of hope after a report published this week revealed that pharmaceutical company Sanofi is stopping its worldwide production of 'Antabuse', a drug that helps about 10% to 15% of (recovering) alcoholics in Belgium not to drink by making them sick if they do.
Sanofi is reportedly taking the drug off the market following stock shortages, long-term supply issues with the raw compound with which Antabuse is made (disulfiram), and likely also commercial interests.
