Correction to: Advancing Pharmacotherapy Development from Preclinical Animal Studies.

In the 7th line from the bottom of the Abstract the word nociception appears incorrect.

Advancing Pharmacotherapy Development from Preclinical Animal Studies.

Animal models provide rapid, inexpensive assessments of an investigational drug's therapeutic potential. Ideally, they support the plausibility of therapeutic efficacy and provide a rationale for further investigation. Here, I discuss how the absence of clear effective-ineffective categories for alcohol use disorder (AUD) medications and biases in the clinical and preclinical literature affect the development of predictive preclinical alcohol dependence (AD) models.

Medications for alcohol use disorders: An overview.

Patients who suffer from alcohol use disorders (AUDs) usually go through various socio-behavioral and pathophysiological changes that take place in the brain and other organs. Recently, consumption of unhealthy food and excess alcohol along with a sedentary lifestyle has become a norm in both developed and developing countries. Despite the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption, chronic and/or excessive alcohol intake is reported to negatively affect the brain, liver and other organs, resulting in cell death, organ damage/failure and death.

Sex and the Lab: An Alcohol-Focused Commentary on the NIH Initiative to Balance Sex in Cell and Animal Studies.

In May 2014, Dr. Francis Collins, the director of U.S.

Brain pathways to recovery from alcohol dependence.

This article highlights the research presentations at the satellite symposium on "Brain Pathways to Recovery from Alcohol Dependence" held at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. The purpose of this symposium was to provide an up to date overview of research efforts focusing on understanding brain mechanisms that contribute to recovery from alcohol dependence. A panel of scientists from the alcohol and addiction research field presented their insights and perspectives on brain mechanisms that may underlie both recovery and lack of recovery from alcohol dependence.

Ibudilast reduces alcohol drinking in multiple animal models of alcohol dependence.

Neuroinflammatory signaling pathways in the central nervous system are of current interest as potential pharmacotherapy targets for alcohol dependence. In this study, we examined the ability of ibudilast, a non-selective phosphodiesterase inhibitor, to reduce alcohol drinking and relapse in alcohol-preferring P rats, high-alcohol drinking HAD1 rats, and in mice made dependent on alcohol through cycles of alcohol vapor exposure. When administered twice daily, ibudilast reduced alcohol drinking in rats by approximately 50% and reduced drinking by alcohol-dependent mice at doses which had no effect in non-dependent mice.

Neural mechanisms of pain and alcohol dependence.

An association between chronic pain conditions and alcohol dependence has been revealed in numerous studies with episodes of alcohol abuse antedating chronic pain in some people and alcohol dependence emerging after the onset of chronic pain in others. Alcohol dependence and chronic pain share common neural circuits giving rise to the possibility that chronic pain states could significantly affect alcohol use patterns and that alcohol dependence could influence pain sensitivity. The reward and emotional pathways that regulate drug/alcohol addiction also mediate chronic pain.

Alcohol dependence as a chronic pain disorder.

Dysregulation of pain neurocircuitry and neurochemistry has been increasingly recognized as playing a critical role in a diverse spectrum of diseases including migraine, fibromyalgia, depression, and PTSD. Evidence presented here supports the hypothesis that alcohol dependence is among the pathologies arising from aberrant neurobiological substrates of pain. In this review, we explore the possible influence of alcohol analgesia and hyperalgesia in promoting alcohol misuse and dependence.

Medications development to treat alcohol dependence: a vision for the next decade.

More than 76 million people world-wide are estimated to have diagnosable alcohol use disorders (AUDs) (alcohol abuse or dependence), making these disorders a major global health problem. Pharmacotherapy offers promising means for treating AUDs, and significant progress has been made in the past 20 years. The US Food and Drug Administration approved three of the four medications for alcoholism in the last two decades.

Acute withdrawal, protracted abstinence and negative affect in alcoholism: are they linked?

The role of withdrawal-related phenomena in the development and maintenance of alcohol addiction remains under debate. A 'self-medication' framework postulates that emotional changes are induced by a history of alcohol use, persist into abstinence, and are a major factor in maintaining alcoholism. This view initially focused on negative emotional states during early withdrawal: these are pronounced, occur in the vast majority of alcohol-dependent patients, and are characterized by depressed mood and elevated anxiety.

Pharmacological treatment of alcohol dependence: target symptoms and target mechanisms.

Alcoholism is a major public health problem and resembles, in many ways, other chronic relapsing medical conditions. At least 2 separate dimensions of its symptomatology offer targetable pathophysiological mechanisms. Systems that mediate positive reinforcement by alcohol are likely important targets in early stages of the disease, particularly in genetically susceptible individuals.

Can experimental paradigms and animal models be used to discover clinically effective medications for alcoholism?

Evaluating medications in animal laboratory paradigms can reveal whether the compound is effective in an established alcoholism model, at clinically relevant doses and exposure conditions, when administered orally (or transdermally) and without serious limiting side effects. Positive outcomes constitute a possible discovery for relevance to alcoholism and, under favorable marketing conditions, encourage further development. Medication testing using animal models of alcoholism might also guide clinical testing by discriminating clinically effective from clinically ineffective compounds.

Development of medications for alcohol use disorders: recent advances and ongoing challenges.

During the past decade, efforts to develop medications for alcoholism have burgeoned. Three agents, disulfiram, naltrexone and acamprosate, are now approved in a large number of countries. Although many patients have benefited from existing medications, their effects are moderate, and some alcoholics fail to respond to them.

Overlapping peptide control of alcohol self-administration and feeding.

This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2003 annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The organizers and chairpersons were Mark Egli and Todd E. Thiele.

The role of residential homelikeness in promoting community participation by adults with mental retardation.

We tested the influence of (1) the homelike appearance of residences, (2) residential staff-members' attitudes about people with mental retardation and (3) Client IQ on the number of activities adults clients with mental retardation conducted in their community. We tested the hypothesis these three variables exerted their influence by promoting positive staff-member interactions with clients. This was assessed by measuring the duration of Staff-initiated Social Interactions with residential clients.

Food choice in people with Prader-Willi syndrome: quantity and relative preference.

Two experiments were conducted to examine differences between people with Prader-Willi syndrome and an obese comparison group in choosing a larger quantity of food delivered after a delay (15, 30, or 60 seconds) or a small quantity of food delivered immediately. Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome selected the larger food quantity. Choices by the obese comparison group tended to be equally divided between both options.