Neuroimmune genes and alcohol drinking behavior

Abstract

Alcoholism (alcohol dependence) is one of the most expensive (more than $185 billion/year for the USA) and damaging chronic diseases. Treatment options are limited (there are only three FDA-approved drugs for alcohol dependence), and there is a high rate of relapse for all treatments. Emerging results suggest that the cytokine responses to alcohol (perhaps via endotoxins) promote persistent and excessive alcohol consumption, which may in turn promote further inflammatory responses, producing a positive feedback loop which that spirals out of control. Although there is considerable effort to develop pharmacotherapies to reduce alcohol consumption, craving, and relapse, most are directed at traditional targets involved in synaptic transmission. Neuroinflammatory pathways in brain (and other organs) may be unexplored targets for medication development to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and prevent relapse.