Ivermectin for alcohol use disorders

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) ranks third on list of preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in United States. AUDs has a major national impact affecting over 18 million people. The increasing prevalence of AUDs coupled with the limited efficacy of FDA approved drugs implies the huge medical unmet need for these disorders. Recent genomic studies have demonstrated that the purinergic P2X4 receptors (P2X4Rs) might be a target for alcohol. Alcohol has inhibitory effect on P2X4Rs and this might to contribute to some of alcohol induced cellular and behavioral effects. Moreover, ivermectin (IVM),a FDA approved antiparasitic agent was shown to antagonize ethanol induced inhibition of P2X4Rs.Hence, my hypothesis was that IVM may represent a novel therapy for AUDs. The first chapter focuses on effect of IVM on alcohol intake using multiple alcohol drinking paradigms in mice while second chapter focuses on investigating effect of IVM on various aspects of behavior related to emotion and cognition. The information in this book highlights the use of IVM as effective anti-alcohol drug and will helpful to anybody who is interested in disocvery and development of drugs for treatment of AUDs.