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dihydromyricetin stops rats getting drunk
Published:2023-05-26 Views:345

For hardened drinkers, it sounds too good to be true: a natural substance that keeps them sober no matter how much they drink, neutralises hangovers and eventually breaks the cycle of alcohol addiction.

Alcoholism is a huge problem globally, killing 2.5 million people a year according to the World Health Organization. There has been serious research recently looking for drugs that stop people drinking, or at least encourage them to drink less.

Extracts of a Chinese variety of the oriental raisin tree (Hovenia dulcis) could be the answer. The extracts have been used for 500 years to treat hangovers in China. Now dihydromyricetin, a component of the extract, has proved its worth as an intoxication blocker in a series of experiments on boozing rats. It works by preventing alcohol from having its usual intoxicating effects on the brain, however much is in blood.

Soon, a preparation containing dihydromyricetin will be tested for the first time in people. “I would give it to problem drinkers who can’t resist going to the pub and drinking,” says pharmacologist Jing Liang of the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the research team.

“Dihydromyricetinwill reduce the degree of drunkenness for the amount of alcohol drunk and will definitely reduce the hangover symptoms,” says Liang. “In time, it will reduce their desire for alcohol.”

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