Binge Eating, Drinking Comorbidity Explored

The comorbidity of binge eating and alcohol binge drinking is prevalent and increases the risk of other neuropsychiatric and bodily conditions. However, the mechanisms linking these forms of binge consumption are unclear. To explore the link between binge eating and binge drinking alcohol, Karen Szumlinski, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and colleagues developed a way to model the disease comorbidity in mice. As reported in their JNeurosci paper, this mouse model led to the discovery that females with a history of binge eating start binge drinking alcohol quicker than males. The researchers also found that females had increased levels of a protein previously associated with comorbid alcohol use disorder and eating disorders called phosphodiesterase 4B (PDE4B). Inhibiting the protein prevented cooccurrence of binging in both sexes of mice. According to the authors, this study supports previous work linking PDE4B to problematic alcohol use and eating disorders and may inform future work investigating whether the protein is an effective treatment target. The authors also emphasize that the behavioral paradigm they developed may be useful for preclinical researchers working to unveil more mechanisms linking binge eating and drinking.