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Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered that a drug already approved by the FDA for treating inflammation might also help people who struggle with both alcohol addiction and chronic pain.
Their new study, published in JCI Insight, found that the drug apremilast could reduce alcohol intake and lower pain sensitivity in lab animals.
Apremilast is currently used to treat conditions like psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, which are diseases caused by inflammation. It works by blocking a certain enzyme (PDE4) that plays a role in the body’s inflammatory response.
This study suggests the drug could be “repurposed,” or used for a new purpose, to help treat alcohol use disorder (AUD), especially in people who suffer from pain as part of their condition.
According to the World Health Organization, AUD affects around 400 million people worldwide. Many people with this disorder also suffer from a type of pain called mechanical allodynia, where even a gentle touch feels painful. This kind of pain can continue even after someone stops drinking, making it hard to stay sober.
Dr. Marisa Roberto, the lead researcher on the study, says that apremilast may help by reducing both alcohol cravings and this long-lasting pain. This could be an important step in treating both the physical and emotional parts of addiction.
The research team tested apremilast on two groups of rats: one type that naturally drinks more alcohol and another more typical group. The rats were given alcohol and then treated with either apremilast or a placebo (a fake treatment).
The drug reduced alcohol drinking in both male and female rats and helped reduce pain sensitivity, both right after drinking and even weeks after the alcohol was taken away.
However, the effects were not the same for all rats. At certain times, the pain-relieving effects didn’t show up in some male rats. This highlights the need for future studies to look closely at how biological sex and genetics influence treatment outcomes.
The researchers also looked at how the drug affected the brain. They found that apremilast increased a kind of brain signaling called GABA in an area called the central amygdala. This area helps control stress, pain, and addiction.
But this effect was only seen in the more typical group of rats, not in the rats that naturally drank more. This suggests that the way the drug works in the brain might depend on genetics or how prone someone is to addiction.
They also found that alcohol increased certain inflammation-related genes (PDE4 genes) in the brain, especially in male rats. This gives more evidence that inflammation might link alcohol use and pain, and blocking it with apremilast could be helpful.
While other drugs that block PDE4 have been studied for pain, apremilast may be especially useful for people who have both AUD and pain. Still, more research is needed to see if the drug works the same way in humans.
In the future, the team also wants to explore whether apremilast can help reduce anxiety, which often appears during alcohol withdrawal. Dr. Roberto explains that many people drink not only to escape physical pain but also to cope with emotional stress. Treating both could help prevent relapse and support long-term recovery.
If you care about alcoholism, please read studies that your age may decide whether alcohol is good or bad for you, and people over 40 need to prevent dangerous alcohol/drug interactions.
For more information about alcohol, please see recent studies about moderate alcohol drinking linked to high blood pressure, and results showing this drug combo shows promise for treating alcoholism.
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