Clinical Studies Investigating Aggressive Behaviors And

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Alcoholism is frequently associated with aggressive behaviors, smoking and dietary changes/deficiencies. To explore facets of each of these common co-morbidities, we have initiated several clinical research studies designed to explore their association with the pathophysiology of alcoholism. The aspect of our research related to smoking cessation in recently detoxified alcoholics revealed that smoking alcoholics had significantly lower concentrations of CSF Homovanillic Acid (HVA) compared with non-smoking alcoholics. We also found that there was no significant difference for various measures of alcohol consumption between smoking and non-smoking alcoholics. Unfortunately, plasma cotinine levels revealed that protocol participants were unable to totally refrain from smoking during the course of our study, therefore, we were unable to determine the effects of smoking cessation of CSF HVA concentrations. It has been shown that there is a strong association between alcohol consumption and violent behavior, however, the actual mechanism(s) by which alcohol induces aggressive behavior is poorly understood. Our research initiative to determine if treatment with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor can produce a significant improvement on standardized measures used to quantify aggression in individuals characterized by frequent episodes of domestic violence is currently in progress. To date five subjects have been enrolled in the study. In our 2DG study, sober alcoholics frequently report that they binge on sweets to decrease their desire to drink alcohol. This exaggerated desire for sweets has contributed to the postulate that alcohol consumption is regulated by the same mechanisms that regulate the intake of carbohydrates. To explore this postulate we examined the effects of glucoprivation on carbohydrate consumption in long-term sober alcoholics. Our finding showing that there were no differences in food consumption between alcoholics and healthy volunteers following 2DG stimulus will be published in Alcohol & Alcoholism in 2002. In this study we also found that the alcoholic group had a significantly blunted response in blood glucose. We concluded that the atypical blood glucose response may antedate the onset of alcoholism or it may be secondary to alcohol-related damage that persists beyond six months. Previous accounts of increased sweet consumption in alcoholics were not substantiated, although they may be present during the peri-withdrawal period. In a new area of research that we are about to begin, the literature suggests that alcoholics frequently have disturbances in nutritional intake that may contribute to changes in mood (i.e., depression and hostility) as well as cognition. One possible nutrient that has been implicated in both of these clinical states is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Since chronic alcohol intake depletes DHA from the brain, we designed a study that would allow us to quantify and image the uptake of DHA in the brains of recently detoxified alcoholics and healthy controls. This study is important because there is no methodology currently available that will allow us to assess DHA metabolism in the human brain.