Adolescent Alcohol Use: Developmental & Long-Term Risks

描述(由申请人提供)： 越来越多的证据表明，青少年饮酒对生理和行为发育有有害影响，并极大地增加了成年后过度饮酒的脆弱性。拟议的研究大体上旨在将青春期发育时期描述为酒精诱导损害的独特风险窗口，并调查青春期戒酒是否具有保护性，从而增强猕猴对服药的适应能力，从而可靠地产生过量饮酒的模式。我们建议使用这个模型来研究青春期酗酒对生理和行为发育的影响，以及随后作为一个风险因素或成年后酒精摄入量增加的影响。通过使用纵向设计，以及对青春期接触酒精的动物、成年期首次接触酒精的动物和从未接触酒精的禁欲动物进行组间比较，我们将能够检查青少年酒精接触的潜在附加或交互影响，以确定成人接触酒精的结果是否会因先前的酒精经历而改变。酒精影响的程度和寿命将从成人长期饮酒后的群体比较中明显看出。最后，将在淘汰期间评估从酒精引起的损害中恢复的情况。从酒精引起的损伤中恢复将在洗涤期间进行评估，然后再有机会恢复饮酒。酒精自我管理的最后一个延长阶段将描述成人生活中持续很大一部分时间的酒精滥用模式。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Growing evidence suggests that adolescent alcohol exposure has deleterious effects on physiological and behavioral development and significantly increases vulnerability to excessive alcohol consumption in adulthood. The proposed studies broadly aim to characterize the adolescent developmental time period as a unique window of risk for alcohol-induced damage and to investigate whether abstention from alcohol in adolescence is protective, increasing resilience to administration in macaque monkeys that reliably produces a pattern of excessive ethanol consumption. We propose to use this model to investigate the effects of a binge-pattern alcohol exposure during the adolescent period on physiological and behavioral development, and subsequently, as a risk factor or increased alcohol consumption during adulthood. By using a longitudinal design, as well as between-groups comparison of animals exposed to alcohol during adolescence, animals first exposed during adulthood, and abstinent animals never exposed to alcohol, we will be able to examine potential additive or interactive effects of adolescent alcohol exposure in order to determine whether the outcome of adult exposure is altered by previous alcohol experience. The extent and longevity of alcohol effects will be evident from group comparisons after extended adult alcohol consumption. Finally, recovery from alcohol-induced damage will be assessed during a wash-out period. Recovery from alcohol-induced damage will be assessed during a wash-out period followed by opportunity to resume drinking. The final, extended phase of alcohol self-administration will characterize abusive patterns of alcohol intake that endure through a significant portion of adult life.