The clinical course of alcoholism in 243 Mission Indians.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to describe the order of appearance and the progression of alcohol-related life events in Mission Indian men and women with a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence. METHOD: A total of 407 participants completed a structured interview that gathered information on alcohol diagnoses, remissions, abstinences, and treatments as well as alcohol-related life events. RESULTS: A total of 70% of the men and 50% of the women sampled met lifetime diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence. The age at onset of alcohol dependence was younger (20 years) and the course proceeded more rapidly (6 years) than what has been described in other large studies of alcoholics. A high degree of similarity in the type and progression of alcohol-related life events was found between Mission Indian men and women and alcoholics from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). However, Mission Indians in this study were significantly more likely than alcoholics in the COGA to experience binge drinking, physical fighting, driving while intoxicated, and alcohol-related health problems and were less likely to consider themselves excessive drinkers, drinking where and when they had not intended to, and to experience guilt concerning their drinking. Rates of abstention after an alcohol dependence diagnosis (61%) and remission from alcohol dependence symptoms (77%) were also high in Mission Indians. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the course of Mission Indian alcoholism can help identify unique alcohol-related phenotypes as well as guide the development of treatment and prevention programs in this underserved population.

Association of the ADH2*3 allele with greater alcohol expectancies in African-American young adults.

OBJECTIVE: A polymorphism at the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene locus, ADH2*3, exhibits markedly greater capacity and maximal velocity for ethanol, and has been reported to occur exclusively in African Americans and some tribes of Native Americans. While it appears that this allele may produce protection from alcohol-induced morbidity, the mechanism by which it does so remains unknown. METHOD: This study examined the association between expectations of the effects of alcohol and the presence of the ADH2*3 allele in 66 African-American young adults (18-25 years old). A structured interview, alcohol-related expectancies and a blood sample were obtained from each participant. RESULTS: A positive association between the presence of an ADH2*3 allele and expectations of alcohol's effects (p < .01) was uncovered. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the ADH2*3 allele may encode for a more intense response to alcohol, an effect associated with protection from the development of alcohol-use disorders in other populations.

Effects of adolescent ethanol exposure on ethanol consumption in adult rats.

Ethanol exposure during early development could predispose an individual to increased ethanol consumption. Given the high prevalence of adolescent ethanol abuse, it is important to assess the potential impact of adolescent ethanol exposure on the development of alcohol drinking. The following study was designed to assess the initiation of ethanol consumption in adult rats after exposure to ethanol vapors during adolescence. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 23) were exposed to ethanol vapor for 12 h per day for 10 consecutive days between postnatal days 30 and 40. Ethanol vapor exposure maintained blood ethanol levels averaging 250 mg/dl. All rats were subsequently trained to self-administer ethanol after a 52-day withdrawal period. When ethanol consumption was assessed in the adult rats (>3 months old) there were no significant differences in initiation or maintenance of ethanol self-administration between ethanol-exposed and control rats. In addition, there were no group differences in the ability of a noise stressor presented before the drinking session to transiently decrease ethanol intake. Overall, these findings indicate that forced exposure to ethanol vapor during adolescence does not seem to be sufficient to alter initiation or maintenance of limited-access ethanol self-administration.