Sitting here anticipating a possible headache when I wake up tomorrow, I remembered a drug, RO15-4513, that Cecil mentioned that would supposedly result in “instant sobriety” (More of the Straight Dope, p. 233). When he mentioned it, it was still being tested on rats, and hadn’t been tried out on humans. I’ve since seen a few references in medical journals, but, for the most part, they require a better understanding of science than my college intro to chemistry provided me, in order to interpret them.
It seems to me, from what I have read, that the drug prevents alcohol damage to the brain, but does nothing to prevent alcohol’s effects on your body. Which, apparently, would mean that the drug would prevent you from dying from a lack of brain cells but does nothing to prevent damage to your liver.
So what’s the deal? Does RO15-4513 prevent hangovers? Is it safe for humans? Does it do anything to prevent alcohol poisoning?
Well, a quick check of Google turns up nothing except hopelessly erudite and technical PDF pages, and nothing at all that looks like “Yes, this is safe for humans”. I don’t even see any mention of testing on humans, just on rats.
So don’t hold your breath waiting for a “sobriety pill”, I guess.
Duck Duck Goose, that’s the same feeling that I got. Reading through pages of medical jargon seems to be about as good a way to induce sobriety as anything that’s currenty available. But the most recent documents I could find on the drug were dated in the late 80’s (discussing its effects on rats and mice), so I figured that 15 years later they would have moved on to testing it on primates of some sort. The only thing negative about the drug, that I was able to find, is that it is an ‘inverse agonist,’ which (after I translated it from technical gibberish into English) seems to mean that it would theoretically induce anxiety in humans.
Anyway, in case anyone else is interested, the drug is (or was – maybe they’ve stopped their research on it) produced by a Swiss company called Hoffman La Roche. Their latest research on the drug (circa 1988) seems to be more concerned with what causes insobriety rather than how to cure it.
Kind of a let down…when I first read about it in The Straight Dope I figured they would have a cure for hangovers by the time I turned 21.
The drug mentioned worked on the brain sites that are affected by alcohol and make you drunk (stupid, incoherent etc.). It blocks this from happening, hence you are returned to a sober state. Whether anyone can tell the difference is another matter…
However, hangovers (sickness, pounding head, sandpaper eyes etc.) are mostly caused by other chemicals in the booze, or those produced by the liver during the breakdown of the alcohol. The said drug did not affect the liver function. Mind you, at least a couple of the more famous anti-ulcer drugs do have a side effect on the liver and shut down (or slow down) some of the pathways and so do provide some hangover prevention.
Why did Ro15-4513 not get to market? I guess its all to do with those authorities (such as the FDA in the US) that insist that drugs are safe AND serve a useful purpose that is sufficient to offset any risks that the drug may pose. In this case, try out the scenario for such a submission, from both the medical and public relations aspects:
The drug works directly on brain sites and pathways and so is comparable to other tranquilisers etc.
It did have potentially serious side effects.
It did not prevent alcoholic poisoning, but did stop you falling over before you poisoned yourself.
Because you could drink more, you would get a worse hangover!
Not a likley succesful new drug application by any means!