This drug could reverse alcohol’s damaging effects on brain
New Delhi, Feb 10 (ANI): Scientists have found a new pill that could reverse the effects of binge drinking on the brain. A study by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers on adult mice showed that two weeks of daily treatment with the drug tandospirone reversed the effects of 15 weeks of binge-like alcohol consumption on neurogenesis - the ability of the brain to grow and replace neurons (brain cells). This is the first time tandospirone has been shown to reverse the deficit in brain neurogenesis induced by heavy alcohol consumption. Tandospirone acts selectively on a serotonin receptor (5-HT1A). The researchers also discovered in mice that the drug was effective in stopping anxiety-like behaviours associated with alcohol withdrawal, and this was accompanied by a significant decrease in binge-like alcohol intake. The findings have been published in Scientific Reports.
