| Hans-Günter Meyer-Thompson | Opioide
Epigenetic Alteration a Promising New Drug Target for Heroin Use Disorder
Heroin use is associated with excessive histone acetylation, an epigenetic process that regulates gene expression, and more years of drug use correlate with higher levels of hyperacetylation, according to research conducted at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published April 1 in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The study provides the first direct evidence of opiate-related epigenetic alterations in the human brain, indicating that the drug alters accessibility to portions of DNA to be either open or closed, thereby controlling whether genes implicated in addiction are switched on or off. (Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, Pressemitteilung, 22.03.2017)