Posted on 07/20/2011 1:14:26 AM PDT by neverdem
Researchers in the US and Australia have identified the mechanism underlying an ancient animal instinct: our appetite for sodium chloride (salt). The mechanism is hijacked by addictive compounds, such as opiates, which could help to explain patterns of drug abuse.
An appetite for salt can be crucial to survival because animals with an ability to meet bodily demands for salt by rapidly consuming salty solutions are more likely to avoid predators. But little was understood about the molecular control of this process.
Now scientists from the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, and the University of Melbourne have identified, in a region of the brain called the hypothalamus, the genes activated by salt appetite. The genes were the same as those regulated by cocaine and opiates, such as heroin (diacetylmorphine).
The team studied appetite in mice by withholding salt and giving them a diuretic, as well as the stress hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone), known to increase appetite for salt. They also blocked protein receptors, such as the dopamine type 1 receptor located in the hypothalamus, which reduced appetite for salt when blocked.
The team found that hunger for sodium caused another region of the hypothalamus to become susceptible to the effects of dopamine, a reward hormone, priming the brain to feel gratification when meeting its demand for salt. This could help to explain the feeling of satisfaction when using addictive drugs.
'It has been postulated previously that drug addiction is like an instinct, in that it is compelling, and gratifying' says Derek Denton, from the University of Melbourne, who lead the project with Wolfgang Liedtke, a Duke neurobiologist. The findings may also explain how drug alternatives, such as nicotine gum for smokers and methadone for heroin users, can be used to treat addicts. 'Deeply embedded pathways of an ancient instinct may explain why addiction treatment with the chief objective of abstinence is so difficult,' Denton says.
The study could provide new approaches to control obesity as well as addiction. 'The results send an important message that foods with higher salt concentration might have potential for vulnerable populations to get addicted to overeating,' says Gene-Jack Wang, an appetite expert at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, US.
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LOL, I think salt is my worst addiction.
Anyone following the plotline knew that the headline was going to lead to this line.
Administration of dopamine D1 (SCH23390) and D2 receptor (raclopride) antagonists reduced gratification of sodium appetite triggered by sodium deficiency. SCH23390 was specific, having no effect on osmotic-induced water drinking, whereas raclopride also reduced water intake. D1 receptor KO mice had normal sodium appetite, indicating compensatory regulation. Appetite was insensitive to SCH23390, confirming the absence of off-target effects. Bilateral microinjection of SCH23390 (100 nM in 200 nL) into rats’ lateral hypothalamus greatly reduced sodium appetite.I'm really curious what the data would look like from a D4 receptor antagonist run.
Interesting.
I have ALWAYS totally loved salt, and tend to have an ‘addictive’ type personality. When I really enjoy something, I keep ‘going back to the well’, so to speak.
Just typing this makes me want Bacon for some strange reason! ;^p
Deer hunters should stop using salt licks immediately.
So, my Grandma and Grandpaw pretty much doomed me for life when they allowed me to pour a pile of salt in my palm and chew on salty rubarb stalks from our backyard?
Sweeeeet!
>>Because, really, why would anyone get satisfaction from doing something that makes you feel good? <<
There is a difference between doing something and being addicted.
My dad had a drink, felt good, went to sleep.
My mother drank until she passed out. Often.
She was addicted.
Who doesn’t like salt?
Absolute rubbish.
Well, I totally love salt too, love salty foods, but I have no addictions (unless you count salty foods). Well, and FR... :)
Government busy bodies.
Matt 5:
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
That sentence does not make sense to me. Salt is a necessary nutrient. I would think that if people eat saltier food, they would reach their salt needs that much faster, and be less prone to overeating. That's exactly the opposite of what that sentence says.
Overeating, of course, has a quite complicated etiology. I don't think nutrient intake alone can explain it.
Me neither. I do shots without handlebars. I could care less about salt.
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