Broadening the boundaries of Pueraria lobate for alcoholism remedy: knowledge gains and gaps

Abstract

Alcoholism is a chronic relapsing brain disorder with huge economic and health costs. Despite this, existing pharmacological interventions do not meet treatment expectations. This makes development of better treatment interventions for alcoholism expedient. Plants have been used for the treatment of alcohol related problems before the advent of orthodox medicines and prominent among these plants is Pueraria lobata. Thus, this review which is based on literature search of scientific journals and books, was written to highlight past and present state of knowledge and identify gaps that need to be bridged in the quest to develop more safe and effective treatment for alcoholism from Pueraria lobata. Literature review shows that Pueraria lobata extracts have been used for decades to treat alcoholism and ethnopharmacological screening of its extracts and isoflavonoids show that they are safe in rodents and are effective in reducing alcohol intake in both rodents and humans. Despite its apparent safety and effectiveness, the mechanisms underlying its effect are unclear. This is partly because experiments that address some specific aspects of alcoholism and the neural and biochemical pathways involved have not been extensively explored in its screening. Consequently, the review made recommendations on the way to go for a robust understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying its effect on alcohol intake reduction with a view to inciting research interests that might lead to the development of novel pharmacological treatment options with better clinical outcome for alcoholism.