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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Impact of Tryptophan Metabolism on the Vulnerability to Alcohol-Related Blackouts and Violent Impulsive Behaviours
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on September 16, 2009

We examined (1) the association of SLC6A4 genotypes and alcohol dependence (AD) in a sample of alcoholics; (2) the validity of lifetime occurrence of blacked-out violent impulsive behaviour (BOVIB) during binge drinking bouts as a criterion for subtyping AD patients and (3) a mechanistic hypothesis for BOVIB involving tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) activity.

BOVIB+ patients showed significantly higher scores on depression, anxiety and character scales but no significant association was found between SLC6A4 polymorphisms and BOVIB. Patients with a history of BOVIB (BOVIB+ subgroup) differed from those exempt from such episodes (BOVIB– subgroup) for TDO activity response to OTL assessed by the Kyn:Trp ratio (P = 0.043) and the slope of concentration increase ratio (SCIR) of serum Kyn (P = 0.043).

Put together, these findings support the validity of the BOVIB criterion to differentiate a sub-group of vulnerable AD subjects and suggest that OTL may help to concurrently define a specific endophenotype.


Request Reprint E-Mail: j-vignau@chru-lille.fr_

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