alcohol use disorder

Heavy Drinking Linked to Smell and Taste Alterations

IRP Research Utilizes National Study’s Data to Explore Under-Examined Phenomenon

woman tasting soup

From the spicy Bloody Mary and sweet piña colada to salty margaritas and bitter cheap beers, alcoholic drinks span the entire spectrum of tastes. It’s not a far leap, then, to think that the sense of taste can influence alcohol consumption habits, and vice-versa. A recent IRP study dove into this question, ultimately discovering a number of ways that smell and taste perception differ in people with high-risk drinking habits.

Illuminating the Brain’s Hidden Secrets

New Molecules for PET Scans Shed Light on Psychiatric Disorders

PET scans of the brain

For most kids, witnessing a classmate get teased for strange behavior or learning struggles is an unfortunate but common part of life. Growing up, IRP senior investigator Robert Innis, M.D., Ph.D., viewed the situation differently when he observed it during a high school geometry class.

“Some of my classmates were criticizing one student like he was a bad person,” he remembers. “I kept thinking, ‘You can’t blame him. It’s the chemistry in his brain that causes him to act that way. Don’t think you’re so high and mighty. It’s just your chemistry!’”

That interest in brain chemistry and how it relates to normal and abnormal behavior laid the foundation for Dr. Innis’s research in neuropsychiatry and brain imaging. As we observe World Brain Day on July 22, we took the opportunity to talk with Dr. Innis about his research, which uses a technique called positron emission tomography (PET) to measure the levels of various proteins in people’s brains and learn about their function in both healthy states and neuropsychiatric diseases.

Double Trouble for Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

IRP Researchers Identify Two Types of Liver Damage and a Possible Treatment for One

fatty liver

While alcohol is a source of celebration and relaxation for many, it does come with significant drawbacks, especially when people over-consume it. For people who have trouble controlling their alcohol consumption — a condition called alcohol use disorder (AUD) — one of the most dangerous consequences can be damage to the liver, the organ that filters toxins like alcohol out of the blood.

In honor of Alcohol Awareness Month this April, I spoke with IRP senior investigator Bin Gao, M.D., Ph.D., about his quest to understand how AUD damages the liver and other organs by uncovering the molecules and mechanisms involved in that damage. His IRP lab also investigates how alcohol is processed in the body, producing insights that could be used to identify strategies for reducing alcohol consumption or reversing alcohol’s harmful effects.

Hunger Hormone Feeds Alcohol Cravings

IRP Researchers Pursue New Approaches to Treating Alcohol Use Disorder

man eating pasta

While most adults in the U.S. consume alcohol in moderation, for nearly 30 million of them, going even one day without alcohol feels nearly impossible. For these Americans, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious condition that harms their health, relationships, and career. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of people with AUD receive treatment, and even then, for many patients, the chances of a relapse are high.

As the search for a reliable and effective treatment continues, IRP senior investigator Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D., is exploring the biological processes that underlie alcohol cravings to unlock new approaches to therapy. April is Alcohol Awareness Month, so we took the opportunity to speak with him about recent discoveries made by his IRP team and its collaborators.

Ketogenic Diet May Soothe Alcohol Withdrawal

Human and Animal Studies Point to New Treatment Strategy

steak and vegetables meal

Interest in the low-carb ‘ketogenetic’ diet has exploded in recent years, with legions of enthusiasts jumping on the bandwagon. The popular dietary regimen has even caught the attention of scientists seeking new treatments for an array of health conditions. For instance, a recent IRP study suggests that a ketogenic diet might make it easier for people with alcohol use disorder to stop drinking.

Postbac Poster Day Goes Virtual

Hundreds of Young Researchers Present Their Work Online

Amy Kwarteng

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the way scientists are doing their work. Nevertheless, scientific research is a highly collaborative and interactive enterprise, so it remains essential for researchers to share and discuss their ideas and discoveries.

Every spring, the NIH’s Postbac Poster Day offers recent college graduates participating in the NIH’s Postbaccalaureate IRTA program the chance to show off the fruits of their labors and talk about their projects with both their fellow postbacs and the NIH’s many seasoned scientific veterans. Due to the need to maintain social distancing, the NIH's Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) went through considerable effort to move this year’s Postbac Poster Day to an online forum. The OITE staff's hard work paid off handsomely, with more than 870 postbacs presenting their research via WebEx on April 28, 29, and 30. Keep reading for a few examples of the fascinating scientific questions NIH’s latest crop of postbacs has been investigating.

Alcohol Abuse Makes ‘Epigenetic Clock’ Run Faster

Study Finds Heavy Alcohol Use Accelerates Cellular Aging

old clock

In an era when 80-year-olds are running marathons while 30-year-olds suffer from obesity-induced heart attacks, inferring the condition of people’s bodies from their birth years is a bit outdated (pun intended). As a result, scientists and clinicians are increasingly examining biological signposts to gauge how well a person’s tissues are functioning. By looking at chemical markers on DNA, IRP researchers recently found that heavy alcohol use accelerates aging at the cellular level.

Stress-Relieving Chemical Could Combat Alcohol Use Disorder

Targeting Brain’s Stress Circuitry Curbs Rats’ Alcohol Consumption

chemical structure of the oxytocin molecule

For social drinkers, alcohol brings to mind barbecues and bar-hopping with friends, but for the roughly 16 million Americans with alcohol use disorder (AUD), drinking is a source of significant stress. Unfortunately, those negative emotions — particularly those experienced during withdrawal — drive people with AUD to drink even more. A recent IRP study points to a potential way to curb the desire to drink in people who abuse alcohol by altering the behavior of a brain structure that governs negative emotions.