Scientists develop hormone injection that halves the time to sober up
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The sober shot: Scientists develop hormone injection that halves the time it takes to get out of your drunkenness
It’s easy to take a drink too far on a night out, but soon you may not need a sip of water and a walk around the block to reverse the signs of drunkenness.
That’s because scientists have developed a hormone injection that quickly sobers you up.
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) – produced in the livers of humans and animals – was found to halve the time it took for mice to recover from the effects of alcohol.
FGF21 – naturally produced by the liver – is known to protect against the negative effects of alcohol by breaking it down faster and priming the brain.
In a study on mice, scientists have now found that when the body receives an extra dose via injection, the hormones cut the time it takes to get sober in half.
An injection of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) halved the time it took mice to recover from alcohol, researchers found
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern gave mice a “binge” dose of ethanol equivalent to a binge of alcohol in humans.
The mice lost their “righting reflex” — the body’s ability to repair itself when alcohol causes it to become unbalanced.
Mice lacking FGF21 took longer than other mice to recover their righting reflex and balance.
In a separate experiment, the researchers gave normal mice a binge dose of ethanol, followed by an injection of FGF21 an hour later when they were unconscious from the alcohol.
This shortened the time it took for both male and female mice to recover their righting reflex by 1.5 hours — a 50 percent decrease compared to mice in the control group.
Co-senior study author Steven Kliewer said: ‘By elevating FGF21 concentrations even higher by injection, we can dramatically accelerate recovery from intoxication. FGF21 does this by activating a very specific part of the brain that regulates alertness.’
FGF21 acts directly on the nervous system and neurons in the brain that regulate arousal and alertness.
The research has been published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The findings come amid a spike in alcohol-related deaths during the pandemic. The number of alcohol-related deaths increased by more than 25 percent between 2019 and 2020.
This year-over-year increase is a huge departure from the norm, which hovered around the two to three percent average annual percentage increase between 1999 and 2017.
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) – produced in the livers of humans and animals – found to halve the time it took for mice to recover from the effects of alcohol
Binge drinking is so widely accepted in modern American society that its negative effects are often underestimated. But binge drinking can pave the way for a dependence on alcohol.
Exceeding the binge threshold also increases the risk of serious harm caused by blackouts, including accidents and overdoses.
Alcohol affects just about every tissue in the body. An episode of heavy drinking can cause inflammation of the pancreas, stomach and/or liver.
Heavy drinking can also cause high blood pressure, dehydration, and dangerously low levels of sodium, potassium, and other minerals and salts.
It can also lead to lung infections caused by inhibition of the gag reflex, which allows vomit, saliva, or other substances to enter the lungs.
Binge drinking also increases the risk of having unprotected sex, possibly resulting in an unwanted pregnancy or STI.