In a study published by Grigsby et al in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers found evidence that using the PDE4 inhibitor apremilast—an agent historically used for the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis—reduced binge drinking behaviors in both animal models and human studies. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, over 11 days of treatment, 51 patients with alcohol use disorder who took 90 mg of apremilast daily saw a reduction in excessive drinking, reducing their alcohol intake from five drinks per day to two. In a companion press release on the findings, co–senior study author Barbara Mason, PhD, Pearson Family Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, commented, “Apremilast’s large effect size on reducing drinking, combined with its good tolerability in our participants, suggests it is an excellent candidate for further evaluation as a novel treatment for people with alcohol use disorder.”
May 25, 2023