Wine &
Health: Drinking the Worm?
Ever wonder why some people can handle
their alcohol better than others? The answer
may lie in the presence or absence of a
certain gene. Well, if it's true about worms…
Scientists at the University of California
San Francisco's Gallo Clinic and Research
Center have completed a six-year intoxication
study on worms that seems to indicate that
a particular gene dictates immunity to the
effects of alcohol. The results are exciting
in terms of medical treatment of alcoholism
and even a possible speedy sober-up pill.
Of course, these kinds of treatments are
years away as scientists continue to work
to confirm the findings that were recently
reported in Cell (a biological research
journal), but researchers hope that the
results of this study are just the beginning
of new insight into the complex effects
of alcohol on the human brain.
The study seeks to explain why the subject
worms had different reactions to the same
amount of alcohol - some seemed immune while
others were greatly affected. The answer
seems to lie in the "slo-1" gene.
The slo-1 gene normally produces a kind
of protein (the "BK channel")
that regulates potassium ions flowing out
of cells. When the BK channels get overly
active, too much potassium flows out of
nerve cells, slowing down their normal functions.
When exposed to alcohol, worms with a normal
slo-1 gene became uncoordinated and slow;
drunk, in other words. Mutated worms with
no slo-1 gene showed no adverse effects
at all.
The question, of course is whether the
same gene mutation would work in humans.
Researchers seem cautiously optimistic,
but site the more complex workings of the
human brain, the myriad effects of alcohol
on the human body as a whole, and the time
and additional studies that are required
before any definite conclusions can be drawn
on possible new drugs.
Resources: Cell - http://www.cell.com/
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