The Chinese herbal medicine NPI-028 suppresses alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats and monkeys without inducing taste aversion

Herbal medicines have been used for centuries in China and other Asian countries to treat a variety of ailments. NPI-028, a Chinese herbal medicine composed of seven plants including Kudzu, has been used to reduce some of the problems associated with alcoholism. Recently scientists have reported that NPI-028 and certain isoflavones isolated from Kudzu may reduce alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats and/or hamsters. The present study reports on a detailed investigation of the ability of NPI-028 to reduce alcohol intake in two strains of alcohol-preferring rats as well as alcohol-preferring monkeys. NPI-028 was found to significantly reduce continuous access alcohol intake as well as the elevated alcohol intake seen in alcohol-preferring (P) rats deprived of alcohol, suggesting that it might reduce craving for alcohol. However, NPI-028 did not produce a taste aversion to a novel saccharin solution, so it does not have a similar mechanism of action to naltrexone, the opiate antagonist recently approved in the US for the treatment of alcoholism. NPI-028 also selectively and chronically reduced alcohol intake in high alcohol drinking (HAD) rats, which are resistant to the effects of many other drugs. Finally, it was shown that NPI-028 significantly and dose-dependently reduced alcohol intake in a group of alcohol-preferring African green monkeys after intramuscular or oral administration. Thus, NPI-028 has a very good profile for selectively inhibiting alcohol intake.