People with alcohol dependency lack important enzyme¹

 

A research group under the leadership of Linköping University Professor Markus Heilig has identified an enzyme whose production is turned off in nerve cells of the frontal lobe² when alcohol dependence³ develops. The deficiency in this enzyme leads to continued use of alcohol despite adverse⁴ consequences. The discovery is now published in the number-one ranked psychiatric journal from the Nature Publishing Group, and could mean completely new possibilities for treating alcoholism.

林雪平大学教授Markus Heilig领导的一个研究小组发现了一种酶，当酒精依赖性发展时，这种酶在额叶神经细胞中的产生会被关闭。这种酶的缺乏会导致持续使用酒精，尽管会产生不良后果。这一发现现在发表在自然出版集团排名第一的精神病学杂志上，这可能意味着治疗酗酒的全新可能性。

 

He and his research group are linking together research into alcoholism and other addictive⁵ illnesses with advanced brain research. It has long been suspected that people with alcohol dependence have impaired⁶ function in the frontal lobes⁷ of the brain, but the underlying⁸ biological mechanisms⁹ have not been known. The research team behind the paper, which includes researchers from both Linköping University and University of Miami, is the first to identify this molecular¹¹ mechanism¹⁰.

他和他的研究小组正在将酗酒和其他成瘾性疾病的研究与高级大脑研究联系起来。长期以来，人们一直怀疑酒精依赖者大脑额叶功能受损，但其潜在的生物学机制尚不清楚。这篇论文背后的研究团队，包括林雪平大学和迈阿密大学的研究人员，是第一个确定这种分子机制的人。

 

Several years of dedicated¹² research lie behind this breakthrough. The research, in which Dr Estelle Barbier - post-doctoral fellow at CSAN - had a central role, has shown that alcohol dependence in rats leads to a down-regulation of PRDM2 production, which in turn leads to disruption of impulse control. This is why the laboratory animals continue to consume alcohol, even when it is unpleasant. If they are subjected to stress, they also quickly relapse into drinking alcohol.

这一突破背后有几年的专注研究。CSAN博士后研究员Estelle Barbier博士在这项研究中发挥了核心作用，该研究表明，大鼠的酒精依赖会导致PRDM2产生的下调，进而导致冲动控制的中断。这就是为什么实验动物继续饮酒，即使是在不愉快的时候。如果他们受到压力，他们也会很快重新酗酒。

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