What is it about?
We elucidated how alcohol ingestion is regulated by a liver-generated hormone (FGF21) and neurotransmitters (oxytocin and dopamine). The crosstalk between the liver and the brain is downregulated in alcoholism. Stimulating the system by FGF21-inducing rare sugars reduce alcohol drinking in both healthy and alcohol-dependent mice.
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Why is it important?
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major global health issue, and effective countermeasures for prevention and treatment are limited. Patients with alcohol dependence generally have a low adherence to pharmaceuticals, and many avoid drug treatment because it deprives them of the pleasure of drinking. Our results demonstrate that alcohol dependence may exist not only as a disease of substance abuse, but could also be caused by the dysregulation of subconscious information processing mediated by the FGF21 metabolic signal in the central nervous system. Therefore, tweaking the FGF21-oxytocin-dopamine system with functional dietary ingredients may prove effective in regulating alcohol consumption.
Perspectives
Dietary therapy is effective in controlling appetite if you can stick to it, but most can't. The same applies to over-drinking. Our work demonstrates that there is a subconscious inter-organ crosstalk signal that regulates appetite for alcohol. Activating the system by food ingredients may help to curve the urge to drink alcohol.
Tsutomu Sasaki
Kyoto University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Negative feedback regulation of alcohol ingestion through the FGF21-PVH oxytocin-VTA dopamine system, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2525172122.
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