Novel compound deters drinking in mice.

• Position: Alcoholism - L-152,804 found to block actions of key neurotransmitter called neuropeptide Y

Relapses remain among the toughest hurdles alcoholics face while trying to avoid the drinking that often ruins their lives and indelibly scars their families. The urge to drink excessively, which most people do not feel at all, is enormously powerful in a significant minority of people. Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered something that might lessen the overwhelming compulsion to drink. Working with laboratory mice specially bred and trained to consume alcohol, researchers have demonstrated for the first time that they can curb mice's alcohol intake by treating them with a novel compound known as L-152,804.

Whether the substance will be effective and safe in humans has not been learned yet, however. If it is found to work in future tests, it will block or neutralize the action of a kind of neurotransmitter--chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other. "The experimental compound L-152,804 blocks the actions of one particular neurotransmitter called neuropeptide Y," indicates lead researcher Clyde W. Hodge. "This naturally occurring transmitter is the most abundant and widely distributed peptide in mammals' central nervous systems. Not only is it involved in anxiety, pain, and memory, but it also is the most potent...