Weakened Satisfaction Likely to Drive Excessive Drinking

Kyoto, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–A weakening of a mechanism that produces a sense of satisfaction after drinking could lead to excessive alcohol consumption, a team of Japanese and other researchers has found. The discovery by the team, including researchers from Kyoto University, was published in a U.S. scientific journal last month. The team expects the findings to help improve alcoholism treatment and support the development of drugs and food aimed at reducing alcohol intake. In experiments using mice, the group found that after drinking, FGF-21, a hormone produced by the liver, stimulates brain nerves and generates a feeling of satisfaction. The group confirmed that a sense of satisfaction weakened after drinking in mice with alcohol addiction, leading to greater alcohol consumption. Mice both with and without alcoholism drank alcohol less frequently after being given allulose, a type of sugar that promotes the secretion of FGF-21. In alcohol-dependent mice, the effect lasted for a week. The researchers plan to develop a drug that stimulates FGF-21 secretion and test its effect on patients with alcohol addiction. “We found that drinking alcohol is linked to satisfaction, just as appetite is,” said professor Tsutomu Sasaki of Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Agriculture. Leveraging the findings, “we hope to help prevent people from excessively taking alcohol,” Sasaki added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]