Biphasic Alcohol Response Differs in Heavy Versus Light Drinkers

Abstract

Background: Most studies of risk factors for alcohol-related problems have focused on biological family history as a primary risk factor. However, other factors, such as early-age heavy drinking, are also risk factors for sustained or progressive heavy consumption. Little is currently known about the mechanisms underlying binge or heavy drinking.Methods: This study examined the acute subjective and objective effects of ethanol in heavy drinkers versus light drinkers. Thirty-four subjects participated in this within-subjects study consisting of three early-evening testing sessions in which subjects consumed a beverage containing either 0.8 or 0.4 g/kg ethanol or placebo.Results: Compared with lighter drinkers, heavy drinkers were more sensitive to the positive stimulantlike effects of ethanol (p Ͻ 0.05), especially during the increasing limb of the blood alcohol curve. Heavy drinkers also showed less sedation and cortisol response after alcohol than the light drinkers (p Ͻ 0.05). Conclusions:The results indicate that young adult binge drinkers show a biphasic alcohol response, with heightened sensitivity to stimulant-like alcohol effects and greater tolerance to sedative alcohol effects compared with their light-drinking counterparts.Key Words: Alcohol Response, Heavy Drinker, Risk for Alcoholism, Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale, Cortisol. H EAVY ETHANOL DRINKING among young adultsis a serious problem in this country (Chou and Pickering, 1992), and the consequences of this excessive use, both financial and personal, are widespread. The cost of ethanol-related health care, loss of productivity, crime, and accidents totals more than $148 million annually in the United States alone (Harwood et al., 1999). Approximately 30% of all accidents are connected to ethanol use, and excessive ethanol use contributes to many chronic and life-threatening illnesses, including gastrointestinal, liver, and cardiovascular disease ("Tenth Special Report to Congress on Alcohol and Health," 2000). Data indicate that those who start drinking before the age of 14 years are 12 times more likely to be injured in accidents while under the influence of ethanol than those who start drinking after age 21 (Hingson et al., 2000). Early-onset alcohol drinking is also strongly associated with lifetime alcohol problems (Chou and Pickering, 1992). Understanding the factors that contribute to the escalation and maintenance of excessive ethanol drinking is crucial to improve prevention, public education, and early intervention strategies. At this time, it is still unclear why some individuals abuse ethanol and others do not.One potential source of vulnerability to developing alcohol use problems is the quality and magnitude of acute subjective responses to alcohol (Fischman and Foltin, 1991). For instance, individuals who experience greater stimulant-like effects from an acute dose of ethanol also report greater drug liking and euphoria and have greater behavioral preference for ethanol (over placebo) compared with those individuals who experience mos...

Comparison of ethanol locomotor sensitization in adolescent and adult DBA/2J mice

“…This is in agreement with a recent report in adolescent C57BL/6J mice that showed an increase in locomotor activity after 1.5 g/kg ethanol administration during the first 10 min of testing (Hefner and Holmes 2007). These findings are significant because it has been shown in humans that heavy drinkers are more sensitive to the acute stimulant effects of ethanol than light drinkers (King et al 2002).The acute activating effects of ethanol involve numerous neurotransmitter systems, including mesolimbic dopamine signaling, metabotropic and ionotropic glutamate receptors, GABA receptors, and opioid receptors (Blednov et al 2004;Demarest et al 1998;Kalivas 1995;Meyer and a BEC (mg/dl, mean±SEM) in adolescent and adult DBA/2J mice on day 1, 10, 60, and 180 min following administration of ethanol 2.0 g/kg. b BEC (mg/dl, mean±SEM) in adolescent and adult DBA/2J mice on day 11, 10, 60, and 180 min following administration of ethanol 2.0 g/kg.…”

Tobacco chippers show robust increases in smoking urge after alcohol consumption

“…Data for this study were extracted from a subset of the heavy drinker group in the CSDP who were also current smokers. Heavy drinking criteria in the larger study included reported consumption of 10-45 alcohol drinks per week, with regular weekly binge episodes (i.e., five or more drinks/occasion; four for females) one to four times per week, to be consistent with prior studies on heavy social drinking (King and Byars 2004;King and Epstein 2005;King et al 2002). For inclusion in the present study sample, the participants must also have reported smoking one to five cigarettes in 2-7 days per week for at least 1 year.…”

Developmental differences in ethanol-induced sensitization using postweanling, adolescent, and adult Swiss mice

“…Results from both animal and human studies support this relationship between the stimulant effects of ethanol and the preference (Agabio et al 2001;Colombo et al 1998;Rodd et al 2004). In humans, it has been shown that heavy drinkers are more sensitive to the stimulant effects of ethanol relative to light drinkers (King et al 2002). Finally, it has been hypothesized that the locomotor stimulant effects are directly related to the addictive properties of drugs due to a high homology between the brain regions underlying the stimulant and rewarding effects of drugs (Wise and Bozarth 1987).…”