GENETIC MARKERS FOR ALCOHOLISM RECOVERY DISCOVERED
In an international study, Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have
identified genetic markers that may help in identifying individuals who could
benefit from the alcoholism treatment drug acamprosate. The findings, published
in the journal Translational Psychiatry, show that patients carrying these genetic variants have
longer periods of abstinence during the first three months of acamprosate
treatment.
Acamprosate
is a commonly prescribed drug used to aid patients in recovery from alcoholism.
Mayo researchers studied the association between variation in candidate genes
and the length of sobriety in alcohol-dependent patients treated with
acamprosate in community-based programs. They found that, when other
environmental and physiological factors were considered, patients with the
common allele of the genetic variant rs2058878 located in the GRIN2B gene,
stayed sober more days than those with a variant allele of the same
polymorphism. This finding was replicated in a sample of alcohol-dependent
patients treated with acamprosate in a study conducted by collaborators from
Germany.
"This
association finding is a first step towards development of a pharmacogenetic
test allowing physicians to choose appropriate treatment for specific subgroups
of alcohol-dependent patients," says Victor Karpyak, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo
Clinic psychiatrist and lead author of the article. "We believe that
individualized treatment selection will eliminate the need for trial-and-error
approaches and improve treatment efficacy in patients with alcohol use
disorders."
The
Mayo findings support evidence implicating an important role of the
N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the treatment effects of acamprosate.
The researchers say more studies are needed to determine potential importance
of identified genetic variants in the longer-term effects of acamprosate, as
well as the molecular and physiological mechanisms behind the drug's action.
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