Miracle hangover cure:
Researchers in China have introduced a way to mitigate alcohol induced adverse outcomes—a genetically-engineered probiotic.
In a
, the researchers described their approach and reported that in experiments on mice,
the treatment reduced alcohol absorption, prolonged alcohol tolerance and shortened the animals’ recovery time after exposure to alcohol. The probiotic hasn’t yet been tested on humans, but the authors predicted that if it confers the same benefits, it could present a new way to reduce alcohol-induced health problems, and liver problems in general.
Meng Dong, Ph.D, at the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Zoology, who worked on the study, noted that clinical applications may extend beyond alcohol-related conditions. “We believe that genetically engineered probiotics will provide
new ideas for the treatment of liver diseases,” she said.
The human body primarily uses forms of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, or ADH, to metabolize alcohol. But some variants are more effective than others. Some studies have found that a form called
ADH1B, found primarily in East Asian and Polynesian populations, is 100 times more active than other variants. The treated mice were found to display fewer signs of drunkenness and lower levels of blood alcohol, lipids and triglycerides in the liver compared to the untreated mice.
