The NOP receptor as a target in the treatment of alcohol abuse

Alcohol is the second most commonly abused psychotropic drug after caffeine in the world today (Samson & Harris, 1992), and alcoholism has emerged as a major social and health problem (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1986). In the United States 19% of men and 8% of women have been diagnosed, at some time in their lives, with alcohol dependence as defined in the American Psychiatric Association's (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (Grant et al., 1994). In Australia, in 1977 it was estimated that one in five hospital beds were occupied by those suffering the effects of alcohol (Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health, 1987). In addition to causing numerous serious medical disorders (e.g., liver and heart disease), alcohol dependence is associated with costly, adverse social consequences such as disruption of families, crime, traumatic accidents, and lost productivity. As a result, the annual costs related to alcohol dependence in the United States for 1998 have been estimated at 185 billion (Harwood, 1998, 2000). Unfortunately, heavy alcohol use and alcohol dependence has been also increasing among younger people (Windle, 1990; Sobeck et al., 2000), indicating that alcohol dependence may become an ever more prominent public health problem. In fact, 31% of 12th graders in the United States reported getting drunk in the past month and 6†"10% of teens meet diagnostic criteria for an alcohol use disorder (Rohde et al., 1996; Clark et al., 2002).....