TWIN & FAMILY STUDIES OF ACUTE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL

我们假设，对酒精的急性反应的遗传变异会影响一个人的饮酒习惯和酗酒风险。因此，我们预测一个人对酒精的初始反应和急性适应都与酗酒家族史(FHA)和最近饮酒史(RDH)相关。我们还假设，基因影响的表现可能会随着大脑接触酒精的浓度的不同而不同。我们提出了3个项目来验证我们的预测。每个项目都采用静脉注射(Iv)酒精夹闭方法，我们最近的研究表明，这种方法能够保持呼气酒精浓度(Brc)，从而使大脑暴露在酒精中，随着时间的推移，几乎保持恒定的预先确定的水平。

We hypothesize that genetic variations in acute responses to alcohol influence a person's drinking habits and risk for alcoholism. Hence, we predict that an individual's initial response and acute adaptation to alcohol are both correlated with familial history for alcoholism (FHA) and recent drinking history (RDH). We also postulate that manifestation of genetic influences may vary as a function of the concentration of brain's exposure to alcohol. We propose 3 projects to test our predictions. Each project employs the intravenous (iv) alcohol clamping method, shown in our recent studies to be capable of maintaining breath alcohol concentration (BrAC), and hence the brain's exposure to alcohol, at nearly constant, predeterminal levels over time.