America
Why some people can't resist alcohol
New York, March 25
Researchers from the
Virginia Commonwealth University have discovered a biological clue that
could help explain why some drinkers develop a dependence on alcohol
while others do not.
The findings move researchers closer to
identifying those at risk for addiction early and designing better drug
treatments to help people stop drinking.
"If we can better
understand the molecular effects of alcohol, we can design more rational
treatments and even warn people who are more susceptible to developing a
dependence," said Jill C. Bettinger, associate professor in the
department of pharmacology and toxicology in a paper published in the
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The
paper describes how researchers examined the role of a protein complex
-- called switching defective/sucrose non-fermenting (SWI/SNF) -- in
determining the behavioural response of roundworms to alcohol.
Humans and worms have a similar genetic makeup.
Bettinger
and associate professor P. Riley Brien found that naturally occurring
genetic variations in the same SWI/SNF complex so crucial to a worm's
tolerance were also associated with alcohol dependence in humans.
The
evidence suggests that the likelihood to develop alcoholism is the
product of mutations in many genes, each with small effect.
"The
identification of genes that are critical in the development of
tolerance in model systems such as worms will lead to future progress in
understanding human dependence on alcohol," Riley concluded.
If
the same effects are seen in worms, then it allows us to form and test a
functional hypothesis about what kinds of changes lead to increased
dependence risk in humans, the authors concluded.