IUPUI researcher discovers new drug for treatment of alcoholism

By Diane Brown

Their discovery is now being marketed to pharmaceutical companies for human trials.

The new medication developed by Harry June, professor of psychology, in collaboration with Wisconsin’s James Cook, also treats the anxiety associated with initial alcohol drinking, as well as the anxiety experienced during withdrawal.

June

No current treatment for alcoholism addresses anxiety without additional medications. Treatments marketed for alcoholism also produce nausea and headaches among some patients.

In addition, June recently received a five-year $1.2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for further study of the brain mechanisms that control alcohol drinking and the evaluation of new drugs to reduce alcohol drinking.

“Alcohol abuse is a major problem in the United States and even more so in certain other countries of the world,” said David Stocum, dean of the School of Science. “Harry June is one of the best research investigators in the world on the neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol addiction. Understanding these mechanisms will lead to new ways to intervene with alcohol addiction, thus decreasing the losses in economic productivity and health costs associated with this disorder.”

June and his collaborator’s recent discovery consists of compounds that interact with certain neurotransmitters within the brain to block the euphoric effects of alcohol while also stabilizing anxiety.

Indiana University’s Advanced Research and Technology Institute (ARTI) and the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation have applied for patent protection.

“With this new treatment, we have a built-in, anti-anxiety component, and we have a treatment that may stop people from drinking,” June said.

ARTI is actively marketing the treatment. Approximately 62 million people worldwide suffer from alcoholism, according to World Health Organization estimates. The U.S. has approximately 15 million people suffering from alcoholism; in 1998, the economic cost nationally was approximately $185 billion.

The grant is June’s third major NIH award since coming to IUPUI in 1992. He will be working with both Cook and Harmut Ludden of the University of Mainz, Germany.