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Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
Published on: June 23, 2023
11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibition as a new potential therapeutic target for alcohol abuse
P P Sanna1, T Kawamura1, J Chen1
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Abstract:
The identification of new and more effective treatments for alcohol abuse remains a priority. Alcohol intake activates glucocorticoids, which have a key role in alcohol's reinforcing properties. Glucocorticoid effects are modulated in part by the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (11β-HSD) acting as pre-receptors. Here, we tested the effects on alcohol intake of the 11β-HSD inhibitor carbenoxolone (CBX, 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid 3β-O-hemisuccinate), which has been extensively used in the clinic for the treatment of gastritis and peptic ulcer and is active on both 11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2 isoforms. We observed that CBX reduces both baseline and excessive drinking in rats and mice. The CBX diastereomer 18α-glycyrrhetinic acid 3β-O-hemisuccinate (αCBX), which we found to be selective for 11β-HSD2, was also effective in reducing alcohol drinking in mice. Thus, 11β-HSD inhibitors may be a promising new class of candidate alcohol abuse medications, and existing 11β-HSD inhibitor drugs may be potentially re-purposed for alcohol abuse treatment.
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