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[May 13, 2024] New Scientist: Edible gel prevents and treats alcohol intoxication in mice

MDCrabCakeFan86

Member
May 31, 2022
1,949
This is quite interesting, a new gel was developed that actually prevents and treats alcohol intoxication in mice, this gel "mimics the structure of an enzyme that causes the body to break down alcohol into acetic acid, which plays an important role in the metabolism of fat and carbohydrates, rather than the more toxic chemical acetaldehyde," the team of scientists who created this gel "now hopes to test the gel's efficacy in people":

www.newscientist.com

Edible gel prevents and treats alcohol intoxication in mice

Mice given unlimited access to alcohol recovered faster after consuming a gel based on a milk protein, with the same treatment also preventing intoxication in another group of mice. If proved safe and effective in humans, it could offer a quick way to sober up
www.newscientist.com www.newscientist.com

Mice given unlimited access to alcohol recovered faster after consuming a gel based on a milk protein, with the same treatment also preventing intoxication in another group of mice. If proved safe and effective in humans, it could offer a quick way to sober up

A gel based on a milk protein drastically reduced the level of alcohol in the blood of intoxicated mice. With further research, it could one day be used to tackle the harmful effects of excessive alcohol consumption in people, or even prevent drunkenness in the first place.

There are some treatments for severe intoxication, such as injecting certain enzymes, but they are often invasive, says Raffaele Mezzenga at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

To provide an alternative approach, Mezzenga and his colleagues developed an ingestible gel that can both prevent intoxication and treat its negative effects.

The team combined nanofibres made of a whey protein called beta-lactoglobulin, a byproduct of cheese-making, with iron particles. This created a gel that mimics the structure of an enzyme that causes the body to break down alcohol into acetic acid, which plays an important role in the metabolism of fat and carbohydrates, rather than the more toxic chemical acetaldehyde, which can trigger negative health outcomes.

In another part of the experiment, the team found that mice that both consumed alcohol every day for 10 days and ate the gel over the same period had much healthier organs than those that didn't eat it at all. Their organs were "nearly indistinguishable from mice who didn't drink alcohol", says Mezzenga.

"If you ingested this gel before you drink, most of the alcohol you drink is converted into acetic acid," he says. "That means alcohol doesn't cross into the bloodstream and you don't suffer from the side effects."

The team now hopes to test the gel's efficacy in people. "I think people who have alcohol addiction will greatly benefit from this as a therapeutic treatment," says Mezzenga. It could also help people without such an addiction to drink alcohol without becoming intoxicated, he says.
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Here's a Nature Nanotechnology article about this newly developed gel:

www.nature.com

Single-site iron-anchored amyloid hydrogels as catalytic platforms for alcohol detoxification - Nature Nanotechnology

Oral antidotes for consumption-related acute alcohol intoxication are needed. Here, the study presents amyloid fibrils of β-lactoglobulin, a milk-derived protein decorated by single-site iron, as a catalytic platform for alcohol detoxification in vivo and prophylactic protection against alcohol...
www.nature.com www.nature.com
 
Protagonist

Protagonist

Member
Sep 13, 2021
546
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
 
Teh_Lurv

Teh_Lurv

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,130
So...if you mix this gel in with a drink you'd get the real life version of Star Trek's synthohol?
 
OP
OP

MDCrabCakeFan86

Member
May 31, 2022
1,949
Teh_Lurv said:
So...if you mix this gel in with a drink you'd get the real life version of Star Trek's synthohol?
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Sounds like it:

In another part of the experiment, the team found that mice that both consumed alcohol every day for 10 days and ate the gel over the same period had much healthier organs than those that didn't eat it at all. Their organs were "nearly indistinguishable from mice who didn't drink alcohol", says Mezzenga.

"If you ingested this gel before you drink, most of the alcohol you drink is converted into acetic acid," he says. "That means alcohol doesn't cross into the bloodstream and you don't suffer from the side effects."

The team now hopes to test the gel's efficacy in people. "I think people who have alcohol addiction will greatly benefit from this as a therapeutic treatment," says Mezzenga. It could also help people without such an addiction to drink alcohol without becoming intoxicated, he says.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
Ottaro

Ottaro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,557
god, mouse is just trying to take the edge off of working for that cheddar day in day out but Mr LoNg LaB cOaT buzzkill comes in with a milk protein based gel
 
mangopositive

mangopositive

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
2,473
Wake me up when they invent a gel that prevents even a single beer from triggering your IBS for 3 days of nausea.

I had a good run.
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,902
good for people for whom alcohol is a problematic experience, or those whose impropriety in messaging their ex is correlated with their wine intake

thankfully that's not anyone that i know of, i know absolutely nothing of it, zero personal experience in that topic
 
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