Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Sep 2012
Variation in documented care for unhealthy alcohol consumption across race/ethnicity in the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.
The VA Healthcare System has made progress implementing evidence-based care for unhealthy alcohol use, but whether there are differences in care across race/ethnicity is unclear. We describe alcohol-related care for 3 racial/ethnic groups among VA outpatients with unhealthy alcohol use. ⋯ Among VA patients with unhealthy alcohol use, black patients had the highest, and Hispanic the lowest, prevalence of documented alcohol-related care. Future research should evaluate contextual and system-, provider-, or patient-level factors that may attenuate racial/ethnic differences in documented alcohol-related care, as well as whether differences in documented care are associated with differences in outcomes.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Sep 2012
Nucleus accumbens mGluR5-associated signaling regulates binge alcohol drinking under drinking-in-the-dark procedures.
Alcohol increases the expression of Group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) and their associated scaffolding protein Homer2 and stimulates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) within the nucleus accumbens (NAC). Moreover, functional studies suggest that NAC Group 1 mGluR/Homer2/PI3K signaling may be a potential target for pharmacotherapeutic intervention in alcoholism. ⋯ Taken together, these data further implicate Group 1 mGluR signaling through Homer2 within the NAC in excessive alcohol consumption.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Aug 2012
Detection of alcohol use in the second trimester among low-income pregnant women in the prenatal care settings in Jefferson County, Alabama.
Prenatal alcohol use, a leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities, remains a prevalent public health concern in the United States. This study aims to detect the proportion and correlates of prenatal alcohol use in the prenatal care settings in Alabama. Prenatal care settings were chosen because of their potential as stable locations to screen for and to reduce prenatal alcohol use within a community. ⋯ Prenatal alcohol use remains a public health issue among low-income pregnant women in Jefferson County, Alabama. Research nurses detected it in the second trimester. Future studies need to encourage screening for prenatal alcohol use in the prenatal care settings by obstetrician-gynecologists, family physicians, nurses, and midwives. Combined interventions to educate and empower women and strengthen families are needed.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Jul 2012
Housing in environmental complexity following wheel running augments survival of newly generated hippocampal neurons in a rat model of binge alcohol exposure during the third trimester equivalent.
Binge-like alcohol exposure in neonatal rats during the brain growth spurt causes deficits in adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Previous data from our laboratory demonstrated that 12 days of voluntary wheel running (WR) beginning on postnatal day (PD) 30 significantly increased the number of newly generated cells evident in the DG on PD42 in both alcohol-exposed (AE) and control rats, but 30 days later a sustained beneficial effect of WR was evident only in control rats. This study tested the hypothesis that housing rats in environmental complexity (EC) following WR would promote the survival of the newly generated cells stimulated by WR, particularly in AE rats. ⋯ WR followed by EC could provide a behavioral model for developing interventions in humans to ameliorate hippocampal-dependent impairments associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Jun 2012
Differential effects of single versus repeated alcohol withdrawal on the expression of endocannabinoid system-related genes in the rat amygdala.
Endogenous cannabinoids such as anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) exert important regulatory influences on neuronal signaling, participate in short- and long-term forms of neuroplasticity, and modulate stress responses and affective behavior in part through the modulation of neurotransmission in the amygdala. Alcohol consumption alters brain endocannabinoid levels, and alcohol dependence is associated with dysregulated amygdalar function, stress responsivity, and affective control. ⋯ These findings suggest that EtOH dependence and withdrawal are associated with dysregulated endocannabinoid signaling in the amygdala. These alterations may contribute to withdrawal-related dysregulation of amygdalar neurotransmission.