Hangover Cure Being Developed By UCLA Engineers

A hangover cure is currently being developed by engineers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Researchers have developed alcohol metabolizing enzymes that can reduce alcohol levels in laboratory mice. According to the Daily Mail, experts are hoping this hangover cure could eventually help folks who have had a little too much to drink.

After intoxicating a handful of mice, professors Yunfeng Lu and Cheng Ji injected their subjects with nanocapsules containing two enzymes. Researchers soon discovered that mice who received the injections sobered up quicker than those who were forced to go it alone. These findings were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Phys.org explains that Lu envisions the hangover cure being available to drinkers as a pill. He added that the enzymes would work in conjunction with the liver to help rid the body of alcohol.

Lu explained:

“The pill acts in a way extremely similar to the way your liver does. With further research, this discovery could be used as a preventative measure or antidote for alcohol intoxication.

Although researchers have had some success using the hangover cure on mice, the treatment is still unfit for human consumption at the moment. However, Lu said that researchers hope to use this data to develop an intoxication antidote down the road.

Professor Martina Stenzel told MSN NZ that there are still a lot of things about the process that scientists haven’t learned yet. As such, it might be a while before people will be able to get their hands on an over-the-counter hangover pill.

She said:

“It shows how powerful nanotechnology can be, but there are a lot of things we don’t know about nanoparticles long term. They talk about it protecting the liver, but it’s possible they might be there for an extended period of time and actually cause liver damage. It’s a very nice example of what nano technology can do for you but I wouldn’t get too excited yet.”

Since the treatment is still in the early stages of development, it’s currently unclear when this hangover cure will be available to the masses.