Taking a probiotic pill before a night out can stave off a hangover and prevent the lasting ill effects of alcohol, academics say.
Tests on mice suggested that a specially made supplement could also prevent people from getting so drunk.
It’s packed with “good” gut bacteria, similar to a Yakult yogurt.
But the genetically engineered pill, which has yet to be tested on humans, also contains an enzyme that has been proven to break down alcohol in the body.
Experiments on mice revealed rodents, as the probiotic absorbed less alcohol.
US scientists found that mice treated with the probiotic reduced alcohol intake, increased alcohol tolerance and shortened the animals’ recovery time after exposure to alcohol
They also recovered faster from the effects of alcohol.
The results have made researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences hopeful that it will lead to a new miracle hangover cure for humans.
They also believe that probiotics could be used in the future to reduce alcohol-related damage to the liver and intestines.
Write in the journal Spectrum microbiologyresearchers told how they genetically engineered a probiotic to express the enzyme dehydrogenase in mice.
It regulates how the body converts alcohol into a substance called acetaldehyde, a by-product released when we drink alcohol.
Acetaldehyde causes the feeling of a hangover by building up in the liver, resulting in associated headaches and nausea.
Previous studies in mice have shown that a specific type of the enzyme, called ADH1B, can speed up the internal breakdown of alcohol.
But that approach has not yet proven safe in humans.
In search of a safer method, the researchers used the probiotic lactococcus lactis – a bacteria commonly used in fermentation – and ADH1B cloned into it.
When tested on three groups of five mice, they were each exposed to different levels of alcohol.
Mice without the probiotic – the control group – showed signs of intoxication as early as 20 minutes after exposure to alcohol.
When the mice were also placed on their backs, they were unable to get up.
But of the mice given a probiotic that expressed human ADH1B, half were still able to turn over an hour after exposure to alcohol.
A quarter never lost the ability to turn themselves in.
Further tests showed that two hours after exposure, blood alcohol levels continued to rise in the control group, while in the probiotic-treated mice it began to fall.
Researchers thought so too treated mice showed lower levels of lipids and triglycerides — types of fat — in their liver, suggesting the probiotic could alleviate alcohol-related damage to the organ.
While the probiotic hasn’t yet been tested on humans, the scientists predict that if it offers the same benefit, it could present a new way to reduce alcohol-induced health problems and liver problems.
Leading experts have been rowing about the harms of moderate drinking for decades.
Studies have suggested that a glass of wine or a pint of beer a day can prevent numerous diseases.
While others have argued that even light drinking is dangerous.
The WHO estimates that excessive alcohol consumption kills 3 million people around the world each year.
In February, the Canada Center on Substance Use and Addiction also recommended that the country’s 38 million residents should cut their alcohol intake to just two bottles of beer a week — a big drop from 10 drinks a week for women and 15 for men.
Britons are urged not to drink more than 14 glasses a week on a regular basis – the equivalent of six pints of lager or ten small glasses of wine.
The NHS also advises spreading drinking over three or more days to avoid binge eating.
Meng Dong, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who worked on the study, said: “We believe that genetically engineered probiotics will bring new ideas for the treatment of liver disease.”
The researchers behind the peer-reviewed study will now investigate whether the effects of modified probiotics seen in mice extend to humans, she added.
“We are excited about the improvement of recombinant probiotics in acute alcohol-induced liver and intestinal injuries,” she said.
It’s because Swedish company Myrkl launched its own ‘hangover cure pill’ in the UK last year.
The company claims that the supplement has been scientifically proven to prevent hangovers.
Users are instructed to take two pills 30 minutes before drinking.
According to Myrkl, the pill contains bacteria capable of breaking down most of the alcohol in the body before it reaches the liver.
Research shows that when the liver breaks down alcohol, toxins are released in the body that trigger an immune response.