A treatment often used to treat symptoms associated with alcohol use disorder may also provide efficacy as part of its purported anxiolytic properties.
Disulfiram, used to suppress tendencies associated with chronic alcoholism, is said to inhibit chemokine receptor signaling pathways related to the regulation of anxiety in rodents.
The study was conducted by experts at the Tokyo University of Science. It was released online in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
“This is the first report suggesting that disulfiram produces anxiolytic-like effects in rodents,” the journal report states. “We found that the presynaptic inhibitory effects on glutaminergic neurons in the PL-PFC may be involved in its underlying mechanism.”
“Disulfiram could therefore be an effective and novel anxiolytic drug that does not produce benzodiazepine-related adverse effects, such as amnesia, coordination disorder, or sedation, as found with diazepam,” according to researchers.
The study is one of the first of its kind suggesting that disulfiram may induce anxiolytic effects, prompting new drug development efforts.
