Hangover Remedy Also Protects The Liver, USC Researchers Find

LOS ANGELES, CA — Just in time for the spike in alcohol consumption that followed the statewide shutdown, scientists at USC have identified a hangover remedy that helps protect the liver in addition to staving off after effects of over indulging.

According to researchers, an over-the-county herbal remedy for hangovers triggers profound changes that protect the liver in short-term and possibly long-term ways. The USC study sought to explore the effects of dihydromyricetin, a compound derived from the Japanese raisin tree. Researchers found that dihydromyricetin, also known as ampelopsin, triggers a sequence of metabolic changes responsible for easing headaches and quickly expelling alcohol from the body.

"We know DHM helps the body to metabolize alcohol faster, but how does it work? We found it activates a cascade of mechanisms that erase alcohol from the body very quickly," said Jing Liang, a research professor of clinical pharmacy and the corresponding author of the study.

The findings support the utility of DHM as a dietary supplement to offset acute alcohol-related effects as well as long-term risks, according to the researchers, whose study appeared this week in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

In addition, the authors say the substance likely has wider applications to help people cope with binge drinking, alcoholism and liver damage.

As residents hunker down to protect themselves from the coronavirus, alcohol sales are skyrocketing in California and much of the nation. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bay Area drinking climbed by 42% during the first couple weeks of sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

Alcohol use disorders constitute the most common form of substance abuse. About 88,000 people die of alcohol-related deaths annually -- the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Globally, alcohol consumption contributes to 3 million deaths each year and is responsible for 5.1% of the global burden of disease, according to the World Health Organization. There is no effective therapeutic agent for the disorder without major side effects, according to the USC researchers.

Meanwhile, excessive alcohol consumption is a significant cause of chronic liver disease, accounting for nearly half of the cirrhosis-associated deaths in the United States.

DHM is derived from fruit from the Japanese raisin tree, which is native to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia and now commercially grown. It's been used in China for liver ailments for about 500 years, but how the substance works is unclear.

The researchers focused on the liver, Liang said, because when someone takes a drink, alcohol circulates through the bloodstream. Though the alcohol affects the brain, it is metabolized primarily by the liver, which is significantly harmed by long-term, high levels of alcohol consumption.

"It's like stepping on a tack; your brain says it hurts," said Daryl Davies, a study co-author and professor of clinical pharmacy in the USC School of Pharmacy. "During a hangover, the fogginess in your brain is an acute reaction to what's going on in your body."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.