More recent studies have investigated the potential for the neuroimmune modulator ibudilast in treating alcohol use disorder. In a double-blind placebo-controlled laboratory study, ibudilast reduces stress and cue-induced cravings for alcohol (Ray et al., 2017). A follow-up analysis revealed that the alcohol craving suppression effects of ibudilast are not generalizable to high-fat/high-sugar food cravings, strengthening its indication as a potential drug addiction treatment (Cummings et al., 2018). Additional clinical trials are in progress to determine its treatment efficacy for reducing alcohol consumption and withdrawal symptoms (see Table 7). In mice, anti-inflammatory PPAR agonists reduce ethanol consumption and preference (Blednov et al., 2014a; Ferguson et al., 2014), and phase II clinical trials with fenofibrate, a selective PPARα agonist, were recently completed (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02158273). A phase II clinical trial with pioglitazone began in 2012, but the study was closed due to feasibility concerns (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01631630). Several other clinical studies are underway to determine the efficacy of neuroimmune-related compounds in AUD. For example, a study expected to end in 2023 is investigating minocycline’s ability to reduce neuroinflammation, alcohol cue reactivity, and
