RESEARCHERS from the North-East have helped to discover a gene that regulates alcohol consumption and which can cause excessive drinking when faulty.

The scientific team who made the discovery - which included academics from Newcastle University - have also identified the mechanism underlying this phenomenon.

The study showed that normal mice show no interest in alcohol and drink little or no alcohol when offered a free choice between a bottle of water and a bottle of diluted alcohol.

However, mice with a specific genetic mutation overwhelmingly preferred drinking alcohol over water, choosing to consume almost 85 per cent of their daily fluid as drinks containing alcohol.

It is hoped that the development could lead to better treatment for alcoholism in humans.

The consortium of researchers from five UK universities - Imperial College London, Newcastle, Sussex, University College London and Dundee - and the MRC Mammalian Genetics Unit at Harwell, were funded by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and ERAB.

Dr Quentin Anstee, consultant  hepatologist at Newcastle University and joint lead author said: "It's amazing to think that a small change in the code for just one gene can have such profound effects on complex behaviours like alcohol consumption.

"We are continuing our work to establish whether the gene has a similar influence in humans, though we know that in people alcoholism is much more complicated as environmental factors come into play. But there is the real potential for this to guide development of better treatments for alcoholism in the future."

The group showed that mice carrying this mutation were willing to work to obtain the alcohol-containing drink by pushing a lever and, unlike normal mice, continued to do so even over long periods.

The study is published in Nature Communications.