Anti-alcohol nanocapsules

Hangover – fight!

Vladimir Fradkin, Deutsche WelleHangover syndrome is just one of the consequences of alcohol intoxication.

Now scientists are developing a drug that accelerates the breakdown of alcohol and its excretion from the body.

After copious libations, a severe hangover inevitably comes – even those who have never experienced such a state themselves know this. Nausea, dry mouth, headache, trembling all over the body, irritability or apathy – what can I say, the sensations are not pleasant. Hangover syndrome is a manifestation of alcohol intoxication, that is, in other words, poisoning the body with ethanol and its breakdown products.

It is clear that medicine could not fail to respond to the needs of the suffering. However, the drugs available on the market today act more or less the same way: they block the receptors in the brain that react to alcohol. We can say that a person feels somewhat more sober after taking such drugs. However, neither the alcohol content in the blood nor its effect on the body as a whole are affected by such medications, that is, the physiological factors that cause a hangover persist.

Natural enzymes in an artificial shellAnd now American researchers have proposed an innovative approach to solving this problem.

A group of biochemists from the University of California at Los Angeles, led by Professor Yunfeng Lu, has developed anti-alcohol nanocapsules, the action of which is based on a completely different mechanism. The scientist explains: "Our nanocapsules function almost in the same way as liver cells: they contribute to the breakdown of alcohol."

Professor Lu made a bet on the very enzymes-dehydrogenases, which carry out in the body – first of all, in the liver – the conversion of ethanol into acetaldehyde, and acetaldehyde into acetic acid. But the oral intake of the corresponding enzymes would not have the desired effect: not only would they undergo cleavage in the digestive tract and would not be able to perform their function, so their cleavage would also produce products much more toxic than alcohol. Therefore, Californian scientists decided to place enzyme molecules in miniature protective shells – nanocapsules. Professor Lu explains: "The size of these nanocapsules is from 20 to 30 nanometers. There are two enzymes inside. And the thin polymer shell has pores, has a certain permeability."

Rodents – alcoholics involuntarilyIn such a nanocapsule, large enzyme molecules are reliably protected, and ethyl alcohol with its very compact molecules easily penetrates through the pores.

One enzyme – alcohol dehydrogenase – oxidizes ethanol itself, while a poisonous acetaldehyde is formed, it is neutralized by a second enzyme – aldehyde dehydrogenase.

The researchers tested the effectiveness of nanocapsules in animal experiments. Professor Lu says: "Mice – unlike humans – do not drink alcohol voluntarily, we had to literally pour it down the animals' throats by force. After a few minutes, the mice were completely drunk and immediately fell asleep, after which we injected them with our nanocapsules. So, experiments have shown that nanocapsules reduce the alcohol content in the blood very significantly. Compared with animals from the control group, this difference sometimes reached 40 percent."

In addition, drunk mice who got anti–alcohol nanocapsules woke up much earlier – sometimes 2 hours earlier - than their no less drunk relatives, deprived, however, of a life-saving drug. Thus, the first area of practical application of the drug suggests itself, says the scientist: "As an antidote for people with severe alcohol poisoning. Our nanocapsules could very quickly lower their blood alcohol levels. Such a tool will be useful in any emergency medical center."

Nanocapsules as a means of preventionHowever, the researchers also tested their nanocapsules for the possibility of taking it simultaneously with alcohol – as a kind of preventive measure.

Naturally, mice had to drink again for the glory of science. And it turned out that after just an hour and a half, the rodents who consumed alcohol at the same time with nanocapsules, its blood content was already a third lower than in animals from the control group who did not receive an antidote. "I think such prevention will find application, first of all, in Asia," says Professor Lu. – Asians do not tolerate alcohol well, but sometimes they are simply forced to use it – for example, during business contacts with Europeans and Americans."

However, before the miracle drug appears on the market, developers have to solve one more task. "There are only two enzymes in our nanocapsules right now, but that's not enough," says Professor Lu. – To neutralize all the toxic metabolites of alcohol, another enzyme is needed. I think we can do it in a year."

And until then, there is only one way out – to observe moderation in alcohol consumption. However, moderation will not hurt later, when the drug appears on the market.

Article by Yang Liu et al. Biomimetic enzyme nanocomplexes and their use as antidotes and preventive measures for alcohol intoxication is published in Nature Nanotechnology, a popular retelling is in the UCLA press release A cure for the common hangover? – VM.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru26.02.2013