Sex difference in alcoholism: Who is at a greater risk for development of alcoholic complication?

Abstract

Aims-Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are among the major medical problems afflicting both men and women. While men display a higher prevalence for alcoholism, it is women who suffer a much greater risk for alcoholism-associated bodily damage. Although women generally consume less alcohol compared to men, females usually suffer more severe brain and other organ damage following binge or chronic alcohol abuse. Main methods and key findings: Although many biological (i.e., genetic risk and neurological abnormalities) and psychosocial (i.e., impact of positive drinking expectancies, personality characteristics and deviance proneness) factors appear to impact men and women equally. These factors especially social and environmental, physiological, genetic and neurobiological ones have been demonstrated to contribute to the sex difference in response to alcohol intake, as well as the development of alcoholic complications. A number of neurotransmitters and growth factors may be partially involved in these differences between men and women. The mesolimbic dopamine system is implicated in the development of addictive behaviors. Differences in dopamine receptor density are found between sexes where gonadal steroid hormones may play a role. Inhibitory GABAergic and stimulatory glutamatergic systems also act as neuromodulators in the brain and differences in their specific receptors have been identified between men and women (particularly GABA A receptors and NMDA receptors).Significance-Given the variety of factors contributing to the sex difference in response to alcohol intake, alcoholism treatment should take sex dimorphism into consideration. Furthermore, future research needs to be directed towards a better understanding of the mechanism of action of alcohol in both men and women.

Juvenile Traumatic Brain Injury Increases Alcohol Consumption and Reward in Female Mice

“…43 Further, women are particularly vulnerable to medical consequences of heavy drinking, including liver disease, infertility, and mortality. 44,45 It is important to note that in this study, females drank more than males regardless of surgical manipulation. This is consistent with other reports in laboratory rodents, where females self-administer more alcohol under both continuous and binge-like access conditions and in operant procedures.…”

Acute ethanol responses in Drosophila are sexually dimorphic

“…A mammalian homologue of fru has not been identified, but it is possible that a different human gene may play a functional role similar to fru, or that the mechanisms downstream of fru are conserved. The neural factors mediating the human sex difference are unknown, although differences in dopaminergic transmission and GABA receptor function have been proposed to play a role (10,43). These processes may be good candidates for potential mechanisms operating downstream of fru to promote sedation resistance in male flies.…”

“…Men exhibit increased alcohol consumption and a higher incidence of alcohol use disorders compared with women (7,8). However, women are more susceptible to the negative physical consequences of heavy drinking, such as organ damage and risk of death, and exhibit a faster progression from first use to alcohol abuse and addiction (9,10). Women are also more strongly affected by acute ethanol intoxication.…”

Compensatory Eating Behaviors, Alcohol Consumption and Opioid Use in a Clinical Sample

“…Therefore, follow-up and additional analyses often encompassed gender comparisons. This emphasis was influenced by previous research stressing the importance of gender-specific treatment for assessing and treating psychoactive substance abuse in the Midwest (Boyd, 2014) and throughout the United States (Barrett, 2013;Ceylan-Isik, McBride, & Ren, 2010;Tull, Gratz, Coffey, Weiss, & McDermott, 2013). The follo wing provides interpretation of the results while also including possible strategies for future research.…”