Neuroscience and Pain Research Lab, Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221005, India.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2020 May 6;11(9):1210-1217. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00073. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Alcohol addiction is one of the highly prevalent neurological disorders and a major threat to public health in the 21st century. Alcohol addiction affects people from all age groups and often leads to other serious comorbidities. The pathophysiology of alcohol addiction involves imbalance between the excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain. These changes occur in various regions of the brain including reward circuit such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and prefrontal cortex. In this review, we have discussed several neurochemical circuitries which get manipulated and maladapted during alcohol addiction. To date there is no effective therapeutic intervention in clinics devoid of side effects that can successfully treat the patients suffering from alcohol addiction. Understanding the neurobiological intricacies of alcohol addiction is critical for the development of novel anti-addiction therapeutics. Apart from this, we have also discussed the recent therapeutic milestones for the management of alcohol addiction including vasopressin receptors, corticotrophin-releasing factor, GABA receptors, glucocorticoid receptors, brain stimulation and mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement.
酒精成瘾是一种高发的神经紊乱疾病，也是 21 世纪公共健康的主要威胁之一。酒精成瘾影响各个年龄段的人群，常常导致其他严重的合并症。酒精成瘾的病理生理学涉及大脑中兴奋性和抑制性神经递质之间的失衡。这些变化发生在大脑的各个区域，包括奖励回路，如腹侧被盖区（VTA）、伏隔核（NAc）和前额叶皮层。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了在酒精成瘾过程中被操纵和适应不良的几种神经化学回路。迄今为止，临床上还没有没有副作用的有效治疗干预措施，可以成功治疗酒精成瘾患者。了解酒精成瘾的神经生物学复杂性对于开发新型抗成瘾治疗方法至关重要。除此之外，我们还讨论了最近用于治疗酒精成瘾的治疗里程碑，包括加压素受体、促肾上腺皮质素释放因子、GABA 受体、糖皮质激素受体、脑刺激和正念导向的恢复增强。
