Purpose: From clinical experience, it is not unknown that water intake can have a “craving”-reducing effect in alcohol-dependent patients.
There is increasing evidence showing that volume regulation and associated regulatory proteins (e.g., arginine, ghrelin, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), leptin, among others) play an important role in the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence. The study will test the hypothesis to what extent a high intake of water in alcohol-dependent patients has an effect on “craving” and changes in ghrelin secretion.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: This randomized experimental study included 23 male alcohol-dependent patients who were exposed to alcohol stimuli. Patients in the intervention group then received 1000 ml of mineral water, while participants in the control group did not. In the following two hours after stimulus exposure, plasma ghrelin samples were determined at ten time points and “craving” was measured.
Results: Patients in the intervention group showed a significant (and sustained) reduction in ghrelin plasma levels compared with the control group. The reduction in ghrelin levels correlated significantly with the subjective extent of craving. The extent of craving decreased significantly in the intervention group compared to the control group.
Conclusions: This study provides new evidence that modulation of the ghrelin system by oral water intake has a “craving”-reducing effect in alcohol-dependent patients. Pharmacological intervention, e.g., by means of ghrelin antagonists, could therefore be a promising new pharmacodynamic target for the treatment of alcohol “craving,” or for alcohol relapse prophylaxis.
InFo NEUROLOGY & PSYCHIATRY 2018; 16(1): 38-39.
