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Potential New Treatment for Alcoholism: Ezogabine

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A relatively new anti-seizure drug may help alcoholics quit drinking, according to a new study.

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found that ezogabine had the potential to reduce alcohol consumption amongst alcoholics by reducing the desire to drink.

The study results, published online in the American Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, were particularly interesting because they showed ezogabine, a potassium channel opener, worked to regulate brain activity via a new mechanism known as Kv7 channel modulation.

The drug in question, GlaxoSmithKline’s Potiga (ezogabine is the generic name), is relatively new; it was only approved by the FDA in 2011. Because FDA approval was only for seizure disorders, any current use to treat alcoholism would be off-label.

Anonymous Drinker (Photo credit: CarbonNYC)

“Ezogabine acts by opening a particular type of potassium channel in the brain, called the Kv7 channel, which regulates activity in areas of the brain that are believed to regulate the rewarding effects of alcohol," said Clifford Knapp, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author.

Knapp summarized ezogabine/Potiga's epotential impact succinctly: “This research indicates that drugs that open Kv7 channels might be of value in the treatment of alcoholism.”

Any potential new treatment for alcoholism has enormous importance because the disease has proved so intractable. Current treatments still fail in the vast majority of cases; statistics show 90 percent of those who get sober relapse at least once. And those numbers apply only to the 15 percent of people who abuse alcohol who even seek treatment.

And in case you think alcoholism doesn’t affect you, consider this: recent government statistics show that 17 million Americans have an “alcohol use disorder” and close to 25 percent of all Americans over 18 report binge drinking (5 drinks or more in one sitting) at least once within the past month.

More than half of all Americans (53 percent) say they have at least one close family member with a drinking problem. And every year, more than 80,000 deaths in the U.S. occur from alcohol-related causes, putting it next after smoking and obesity as a leading preventable cause of death.

The current study is only preliminary, however, and Knapp and team cautioned that more study will be needed to understand how exactly ezogabine works via Kv7 channels and to evaluate the drug's full effects.

There's also the issue of dosage. Ezogabine is known to cause drowsiness, dizziness, and motor impairment, side effects that are listed in the drug’s patient disclosures, and drinking alcohol while taking the drug can exacerbate these effects.

Therefore, the researchers note, there's a small dosage window between when ezogabine reduces drinking, and when it begins to impair motor skills. Because of the “close proximity” of the doses, Knapp says, “It is still important to continue to investigate how selective the actions of ezogabine are on the neuronal mechanisms that control alcohol consumption.”

So in other words there's still lots of work to be done before Potiga can be added to the alcoholism treatment arsenal.

But given that other anti-seizure meds like topiramate (brand name: Topamax) are being used off-label for their potential to treat alcoholism, it seems likely we can look for future breakthroughs in this area.