A research group describes in the "British Journal of Pharmacology" that alcohol-dependent mice are more sensitive to pain after alcohol withdrawal. This was also true for about half of the mice that were "occasional drinkers". Behind this, however, were different mechanisms.

During alcohol withdrawal, the alcohol-dependent mice felt pain in response to stimuli that do not normally trigger pain. If the mice were subsequently given alcohol again, their sensitivity to pain decreased significantly. About half of the mice that were given alcohol but were not dependent were also more sensitive to pain during alcohol withdrawal. In them, however, the alcohol did not reverse the pain.

Increased inflammatory substances were detectable in both the addicted and non-addicted animals, but they differed from each other. This suggests that different mechanisms are at work causing the pain. At the same time, the findings offer the possibility of targeting drugs to block the inflammatory substances in order to combat alcohol-related pain.

Says Dr. Vittoria Borgonetti of California's Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, "These two types of pain are very different. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between them and develop different treatments for each type. Research group leader Marisa Roberto, MD, added, "There is an urgent need to better understand the relationship between chronic pain and alcohol dependence. Pain is a common symptom in patients with alcohol dependence and a reason people continue to drink."

Alcohol damages nerves when consumed excessively and continuously, leading to chronic pain and other symptoms. Alcohol abuse can also alter how the brain processes pain signals and activate the immune system. This, in turn, can lead to increased alcohol consumption. When alcohol is abstained from, withdrawal often leads to allodynia, a hypersensitivity in which a harmless stimulus is perceived as painful.

Quelle: DOI 10.1111/bph.16091