Quadir Sema G, Cottone Pietro, Sabino Valentina
Laboratory of Addictive Disorders, Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States.
Front Pharmacol. 2019 Jun 14;10:687. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00687. eCollection 2019.
Pharmacological treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) are few in number and often ineffective, despite the significant research carried out so far to better comprehend the neurochemical underpinnings of the disease. Hence, research has been directed towards the discovery of novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of AUD. In the last decade, the sigma receptor system has been proposed as a potential mediator of alcohol reward and reinforcement. Preclinical studies have shown that the motivational effects of alcohol and excessive ethanol consumption involve the recruitment of the sigma receptor system. Furthermore, sigma receptor antagonism has been shown to be sufficient to inhibit many behaviors related to AUDs. This paper will review the most current evidence in support of this receptor system as a potential target for the development of pharmacological agents for the treatment of alcohol addiction.
尽管目前已经开展了大量研究以更好地理解酒精使用障碍(AUD)的神经化学基础,但针对该疾病的药物治疗方法数量有限且往往效果不佳。因此,研究方向已转向发现治疗AUD的新型治疗靶点。在过去十年中,西格玛受体系统被认为是酒精奖赏和强化作用的潜在介质。临床前研究表明,酒精的动机效应和过量饮酒涉及西格玛受体系统的激活。此外,已证明西格玛受体拮抗作用足以抑制许多与AUD相关的行为。本文将综述支持该受体系统作为开发治疗酒精成瘾药物潜在靶点的最新证据。