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1st appeared
19 October
1999 Abstemious Mice Offer Hint at Molecular Target for Treating Alcoholism Researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UC San Francisco have identified an enzyme that could prove to be a target for reducing the craving for, and excessive use of, alcohol -- a hallmark of alcoholism. In the November issue of Nature Neuroscience, they report that mice genetically engineered to lack the enzyme, known as PKCe , were 75 percent less apt to imbibe than their normal brethren. Mice lacking the enzyme also responded as if they were pre-treated with a class of drugs that are commonly used to treat seizures, anxiety and epilepsy, but showed no sign of being sleepy or sedate, normally a side effect of the drugs. The finding suggests that inhibiting PKCe activity could also improve, or supplant, these existing drugs, the researchers said. Lead authors of the report are Clyde Hodge, UCSF assistant professor of neurology and an investigator at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UCSF and the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UCSF; and Robert Messing, UCSF associate professor of neurology and an investigator at the Gallo Clinic. Links: Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center UCSF Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction AddictionScience.org (an online research forum sponsored by the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UCSF) Related Daybreak stories: Hard-Liquor Consumption May Explain Trends in Cirrhosis Mortality Alcohol Researcher Wins Prestigious International Award Gov. Wilson Visits Gallo Center Gallo Researcher Studying the Genetics of Alcoholism Drunken Fruit Flies Reveal Molecular Pathway Regulating Sensitivity to Alcohol Source: Jennifer O’Brien, News Services
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