Studies on alcohol addicts lack the enzyme to control their addiction

Alcoholics lacks an important substance in the brain
Many people in the world drink too much alcohol. At regular drinkers we speak of alcoholics. But what makes a person drink larger amounts of alcohol every day? Researchers have now found that alcoholics lack a substance in the brain. This usually helps to control alcohol addiction.

Alcohol addiction is a serious and widespread problem. Researchers at Linkoping University in Sweden found that alcoholics lack an important so-called methyltransferase in the brain. This helps in controlling alcohol addiction. The physicians published their findings in the journal "Molecular Psychiatry".

Excessive alcohol consumption damages our health. But what makes alcoholics actually drink tons of alcohol every day? Researchers have now discovered that alcoholics lack an important substance in the brain. (Image: Yvonne Weis / fotolia.com)

Normally, PRDM2 helps to control alcohol consumption
The experts found that in the development of alcohol dependence, the production of important enzymes is eliminated. Normally, the methyltransferase PRDM2 is supposed to help us better control alcohol consumption. The absence of the substance causes us to drink more alcohol despite negative consequences for our health, say the doctors.

Effects of PRDM2 on the brain studied
The new results will hopefully lead to a better treatment of alcohol problems, say the doctors. The affected enzyme PRDM2 has already been studied for the purpose of cancer research. So far, nobody has analyzed the effects on the human brain, the experts add.

Alcohol addicts suffer from an impairment of the frontal lobe
It has long been suspected that alcoholics suffer from impaired functions of the frontal lobe in the brain. So far, the underlying biological mechanisms were not known, say the authors. The new study was the first to establish the molecular mechanisms for this.

Effects of impairment of functions of the frontal lobe
If the frontal function is impaired, it becomes difficult for those affected to control their impulses. A person with intact pulse control can pass a bar on a warm day without buying a beer. The person in question thinks that it would be nice to drink a cold beer, but he does not, because he has to work a little two hours later, say the scientists. An alcoholic does not have sufficient impulse control. Such people, for example, think they are hot, they are thirsty and therefore have to drink a beer immediately.

Germans drink too much alcohol
Heavy drinking is a major health hazard, say the experts. Especially in Germany, people drink more than average alcohol. Another study found recently that alcohol is the trigger of at least seven different cancers. This is just one of the reasons why Germans should drink less alcohol.

Parents influence the alcohol consumption of their children significantly
Especially parents play a particularly important role in the handling of alcohol. Parents have a great influence on their children. Doctors have some time ago announced that parents significantly influence the use of alcohol by minors. So talk to your children about the dangers of alcohol and be a good role model.

PRDM2 enables effective communication of nerve cells
The methyltransferase PRDM2 controls the expression of various genes. These are necessary for effective communication of nerve cells, explains the study director Markus Heilig. If too little of the enzyme is produced, no effective signals are sent out of the cells. For this reason, the occurring pulse is then not stopped.

The alcohol-related decrease of PRDM2 leads to the disturbance of the impulse control
The new study showed that alcohol dependence in rats leads to a decrease in PRDM2 production. As a result, the existing pulse control is disturbed, explain the doctors. The rats then drank more alcohol, even if the consequences were actually unpleasant. In addition, it was found that stressed rats drink alcohol more often, the experts add.

Disabling PRDM2 also interferes with impulse control
In the next step of the study, researchers turned off the production of PRDM2 in the rat's frontal lobe. These experimental animals were not previously dependent on alcohol. Nevertheless, the doctors could observe the same behavior. The pulse control of the rats was clearly disturbed.

Molecular manipulation leads to the characteristics of an addiction disease
A single molecular manipulation leads to important features of an addiction disease, explains Professor Heilig. Hopefully, as we begin to understand the implications, we will soon be able to intervene better. In the long term, we need to develop more effective drugs, and in the short term, the results should help prevent alcoholism from becoming so stigmatized in the future, adds the physician.

Reduce your alcohol consumption
The results of the new study show us that we should limit our alcohol consumption. There are many ways to reduce your alcohol intake. A really simple but effective way is that they use smaller glasses when consuming alcohol. A medical study found that larger glasses mislead to over-drink. (As)