STRESS ALCOHOL INTERACTIONS

压力和酒精的减压特性经常被 与大量饮酒有关。 证据 这个酗酒的假设仍然有争议。 最近，我们可以 在老鼠身上展示了为什么可能会得到和产生有争议的结果 一些生化证据表明酒精具有减压作用。 酒精对血浆和脑中儿茶酚胺水平的影响不同， 非应激与应激大鼠;它可以产生类似应激的影响， 而它可以减轻压力大鼠的压力。 之间 在应激大鼠中，我们确定了具有“高”或“低”应激反应的大鼠。 通过选择性育种，我们在初步实验中发现， 压力反应有遗传因素。 我们还观察到， 仅在某些动物中减少了应激反应， 反应有一个遗传成分，因为我们能够在初步繁殖 实验大鼠选择性地为“低”或“高”酒精减少 反应 然而，这些实验需要验证和扩展。 因此，我们计划 研究酒精对血浆和脑中儿茶酚胺的影响， 非应激和应激大鼠。 我们计划有选择地饲养老鼠， 单独的应激反应（儿茶酚胺）以及它们的 减少压力下对酒精的反应。 这些研究将导致 不同的线是“高”或“低”压力反应者或“高”或“低”压力反应者。 “低”醇还原剂。 这些动物将被描述为 化学，行为测试和自愿饮酒 在压力下。 这些研究将与其他研究合作进行。 具有压力和/或酒精研究专业知识的调查人员。 这本小说 方法将提供明确的生物化学，行为和遗传数据， 酒精和老鼠之间的相互作用， 关于酒精中毒发病机理的信息。

Stress and the stress-reducing properties of alcohol are frequently implicated in the initiation of heavy alcohol consumption. Evidence for this hypothesis of alcoholism is still controversial. Recently, we could show in rats why perhaps controversial results were obtained and produce some biochemical evidence for a stress reducing effect of alcohol. Alcohol effects plasma and brain catecholamine levels differently in nonstressed vs. stressed rats; it can produce stress-like effects in nonstressed animals whereas it can reduce stress in stressed rats. Among stressed rats, we identified rats with "high" or "low" stress responses. Through selective breeding, we found in preliminary experiments that this stress response has a genetic component. We observed also that alcohol reduced the stress response only in certain animals and that the reducing response has a genetic component since we were able to breed in preliminary experiments rats selectively for a "low" or "high" alcohol reducing response. However, these experiments need verification and extension. Thus, we plan to study the effects of alcohol on plasma and brain catecholamines in nonstressed and stressed rats. We plan to selectively breed rats for their individual stress responses alone (catecholamines) as well as for their reducing responses to alcohol during stress. These studies will lead to different lines which are "high" or "low" stress responders or "high" or "low" alcholhol reducers. These animals will then be characterized chemically, tested behaviorally and subjected to voluntary alcohol intake during stress. These studies will be done in collaboration with other investigators with expertise in stress and/or alcohol research. This novel approach will supply definite biochemical, behavioral and genetic data on the interaction between alcohol and rats which will hopefully provide information on the pathogenesis(es) of alcoholism.