Genetics of the Acute Response to Alcohol in Social Drinkers

Summary

Background: \- Previous research has shown that a person s genes can influence how they respond to alcohol. But researchers do not yet know all the genes that might be involved. Objectives: \- To identify genes that are related to how non-alcoholic individuals respond to alcohol. Eligibility: \- Healthy people between 21 and 30 years of age who have no history of alcohol or drug dependence. Design: * The study requires one or two 9-hour visits to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. * Participants must not take any medicines (except birth-control pills for women) for at least 3 days before the visit. They must not drink alcohol for at least 2 days before the visit. * Screening includes a medical history, physical exam, and a urine test for drugs of abuse. * Participants will be given alcohol over about 2.5 hours. This will have about the same effect as having three to four drinks. Frequent breathalyzer tests will check breath alcohol level during the infusion. * Before and during the infusion, participants will complete questionnaires about mood and feelings. Other tests will study thinking, balance, judgment, and risk-taking. Blood samples will be collected four times during the infusion. * Participants will have breakfast at the start of the visit (around 8:00 AM). They will have a snack before the start of the alcohol infusion (around 10:45 AM). Lunch will be served after the alcohol infusion is complete (around 2:20 PM). After the tests, those in the study will have to stay in the Clinical Center until their breath alcohol level falls below 0.02%. This can take up to 2.5 hours. A final blood sample will be drawn at that time. Participants will not be able to drive themselves home after the study visits. Also, they should not take any medicines or operate any machinery for at least 2 hours after leaving NIH.

Timeline

Start

2011-05-26

Primary completion

2016-01-20

Completion

2016-01-20

Publications

• Background Bernstein DP, Stein JA, Newcomb MD, Walker E, Pogge D, Ahluvalia T, Stokes J, Handelsman L, Medrano M, Desmond D, Zule W. Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse Negl. 2003 Feb;27(2):169-90. doi: 10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00541-0.
• Background Bierut LJ, Agrawal A, Bucholz KK, Doheny KF, Laurie C, Pugh E, Fisher S, Fox L, Howells W, Bertelsen S, Hinrichs AL, Almasy L, Breslau N, Culverhouse RC, Dick DM, Edenberg HJ, Foroud T, Grucza RA, Hatsukami D, Hesselbrock V, Johnson EO, Kramer J, Krueger RF, Kuperman S, Lynskey M, Mann K, Neuman RJ, Nothen MM, Nurnberger JI Jr, Porjesz B, Ridinger M, Saccone NL, Saccone SF, Schuckit MA, Tischfield JA, Wang JC, Rietschel M, Goate AM, Rice JP; Gene, Environment Association Studies Consortium. A genome-wide association study of alcohol dependence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Mar 16;107(11):5082-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0911109107. Epub 2010 Mar 2.
• Background Blekher T, Ramchandani VA, Flury L, Foroud T, Kareken D, Yee RD, Li TK, O'Connor S. Saccadic eye movements are associated with a family history of alcoholism at baseline and after exposure to alcohol. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2002 Oct;26(10):1568-73. doi: 10.1097/01.ALC.0000033121.05006.EF.

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Indications