Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN orchestrated a study that involves the beneficial relationship between genetic markers and the effectiveness of
acamprosate in alcohol dependent individuals. They recruited participants being treated with acamprosate and studied the "association between genetic variations and the length of sobriety among the alcohol dependent patients."
Acamprosate restores chemical imbalances in the brain that occur when someone addicted to alcohol quits drinking, and is used to help alcoholics abstain from alcohol. People addicted to other drugs along with alcohol and people who already quit drinking and underwent detoxification may not encounter beneficial results from acamprosate.
The team found that "patients with the genetic variant allele rs2058878 located in the
GRIN2B gene stayed sober for more days than patients with another variant of this allele." This shows how
N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors help acamprosate's effectiveness.
I think that identifying this is great because according to Dr. Victor Karpyak, Mayo Clinc psychiatrist and lead author of the article in
Translational Psychiatry, this is the first step to developing "a pharmacological test allowing physicians to choose appropriate treatment for specific subgroups of alcohol-dependent patients." Fortunately, this individualized treatment will eliminate the trial-and error approaches and make treatments more efficient for patients with alcohol disorders. He continues by stating how more studies should be done to show the importance of genetic variants "and how they influence the effectiveness of acamprosate over the long term."
Article:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284973.php
Related Article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3277871/
