NATION IN BRIEF : MASSACHUSETTS : Kudzu Extract May Cut Alcohol Craving

Kudzu, a nuisance weed that often chokes trees in Southern forests, may contain extracts that conquer the craving for alcohol, a study shows. Researchers at Harvard Medical School, intrigued by the ancient Chinese use of the kudzu roots to treat alcoholism, tested compounds from the plant on a type of hamster with a huge appetite and capacity for alcohol. They found that the rodents voluntarily went on the wagon. In a study to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Bert L. Vallee and his colleague, Wing-Ming Keung, identified the active ingredient in kudzu as a compound called daidzin. Vallee said he hopes that the drug will be ready for clinical testing in humans within a year.