Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Jul 2019
Early-Life Adversity and Blunted Stress Reactivity as Predictors of Alcohol and Drug use in Persons With COMT (rs4680) Val158Met Genotypes.
Risk for alcoholism may be enhanced by exposure to early-life adversity (ELA) in persons with genetic vulnerabilities. We examined ELA in the presence of a common variant of the gene for the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT, Val158Met, rs4680) in relation to cortisol reactivity, the onset of early drinking, and experimentation with drugs. ⋯ ELA leads to blunted stress reactivity and, independently, contributes to potentially risky drinking and drug-use behaviors in persons carrying 1 or 2 copies of the COMT 158Met allele. The results reinforce the impact of early experience on the stress axis and on risky behaviors, and they point to the 158Met allele as conveying a vulnerability to the early environment.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Jul 2019
Do Associations Between Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorder Vary by Weight Status? Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III.
Understanding whether the associations between alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) differ by weight status may be useful in screening for AUD in populations where obesity is common. We aimed to determine whether the associations between alcohol use and AUD differ by weight status. ⋯ The associations between some measures of alcohol use and AUD differed by weight status, with inconsistent results between males and females. Alcohol use thresholds typically used in AUD screening may be too high in males with class 3 obesity.