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Friday, May 25, 2007

Rates of ethanol metabolism decrease in sons of alcoholics following a priming dose of ethanol

Alcohol Article in Press, On-line 23 May 2007




Rapid changes in rates of ethanol metabolism in response to acute ethanol administration have been observed in animals and humans.

To examine whether this phenomenon might vary by risk for alcoholism, 23 young men with a positive family history of alcoholism (family history positive [FHP]) were compared to 15 young men without a family history of alcoholism (family history negative [FHN]).

FHP subjects demonstrated faster initial rates of ethanol metabolism compared to FHN subjects. However, FHN subjects increased their rate of metabolism compared to a decrease in FHP subjects. Fifty-two percent of the FHP and none of the FHN subjects exhibited a decline in metabolic rate of 20% or more.

Since a significant proportion of FHP subjects exhibited a decrease in the second rate of ethanol metabolism, these preliminary data might help to partly explain why FHP individuals differ in their sensitivity to ethanol and are more likely to develop alcohol dependence.

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Reprint Request E-mail: bubradfo@email.unc.edu
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