For decades, a scientific explanation has been sought to understand why some people can simply drink a drink and yet others feel the impulse to continue with the second, the third ... It is what is known as compulsive consumption. A phenomenon that, for some unknown reason to date, does not affect everyone. Now, a group of researchers has found in a neuronal circuit the key to this mystery that could open the door to a new route of treatment for this type of addiction.

An "extremely promising step", although, taking into account that the finding has taken place in mice, "the same results must be replicated in humans before," says Cody Siciliano, the main author of this work who has just seen the light in the pages of the scientific journal 'Science'.

It all starts with a question: What individual differences exist between the neuronal activity of a person who conforms to the first and another that is encouraged more and more? It is known that more than 80% of adults are exposed to alcohol throughout their lives, but less than 30% will develop a disorder related to this substance.

With the aim of finding an explanation for this vulnerability presented by only a part of the population, Sicilian and other experts in pharmacology, brain knowledge and addictions of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the Salk Institute of La Jolla, they set out to work with mice.

Through specific neuroimaging techniques they observed the connections between the medial prefrontal area and the brainstem , where one could say that impulsivity resides. The experiment consisted of giving these laboratory animals a drink in such a way that three groups were identified: mice that drank little, mice that stopped as soon as they noticed the adverse effects of alcohol, such as nausea, vomiting or general malaise, and mice not they had an end despite the negative effects of alcohol, such as nausea, vomiting or general malaise. That is: low drinkers, drinkers sensitive to the negative effects and large drinkers immune to them.

After these behaviors, and for the first time, the longitudinal neuronal images could be compared from the beginning of alcohol exposure to the development of compulsive patterns . The conclusion seemed obvious. There was a clear difference in the connections between those who stopped drinking and those who continued to consume one after the other. In the latter, connections were more inhibited. Even the authors have shown that by manipulating this mechanism, they managed to increase or decrease the compulsion.

This means that " a neuronal circuit in the brain of mice controls the development of compulsive alcohol use disorders, " says Siciliano, which translates into a "biomarker that could become a target for therapies; provided the findings be demonstrated in humans. "

In the words of Toni Gual, head of the Alcoholology Unit of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, ​​"we knew there was a genetic base, but we did not know the mechanisms by which it is expressed." However, the expert continues, "you have to look at these results with caution. Until you can extrapolate to humans, there is a whole way to go." What is certain is that it confirms that " alcohol addiction is a disease, not a vice . There is a biological substrate that explains why one person stops and another person continues to drink."

In addition, if the finding is replicated in humans in the future, it opens the door to the identification of high-risk individuals, so that prevention strategies could be established. It should be remembered that "apart from the genetic base, there are also environmental factors that favor the compulsive, abusive and chronic consumption of alcohol and those would be those that should be avoided," says Vicente Gasull, coordinator of the Mental Health working group of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (Semergen).

Time will tell if these results will also be able to open a new therapeutic line based on drugs capable of modulating the altered circuits involved in this type of alcohol consumption. Currently, Gual adds, "the conventional treatment is psychotherapeutic. We do not have very effective medications. Those authorized have a very moderate effect."

The authors of the research remember that excessive alcohol consumption is one of the four main causes of preventable death, along with tobacco, poor diet and lack of exercise. It is related to more than 200 diseases , such as liver cirrhosis, hypertensive disease, hemorrhagic stroke, atrial fibrillation and some types of dementia or cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In this section, it is estimated that the risk of digestive tumors associated with alcohol consumption increases between 10% and 30% for every two glasses of alcohol consumed per day. In general, alcohol increases the chances of suffering from oral, esophageal, laryngeal, liver and breast cancer; and to a lesser extent, stomach, colon and rectum. In fact, 10% of cancers in men and 3% in women are induced by alcohol.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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