New 'Sobriety Pill' May Reduce Effects Of Alcohol

Blacking out every Saturday night may become an urban myth after researchers finish testing a new "alcohol antidote."

Human trials for a drug that keeps you sober are reportedly in the works, ever since the drug (dihydromyricetin, or DHM) showed promising results in trials on rats.

Lead researcher Jing Liang of the University of California, Los Angeles found that after injecting alcohol into rats' abdomens (the rat equivalent of 15 to 20 beers in two hours for humans), the rats took about 70 minutes to right themselves after being placed on their backs.

When the same injection was laced with a proportional amount of DHM, the rats only took five minutes.

There was also a classic maze test, where boozed up rats without DHM just hid away in dark corners, whereas the ones dosed with DHM ran around as usual.

The research also suggests that DHM may curb alcoholism, since it reduced the rat's ability to taste hard alcohol. Still, if the pill does get developed, it may lead to more binge drinking, since people could drink more without feeling the effects.

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