ESBRA 2011, European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism, Vienna, Austria, September 4–7, 2011 - SYMPOSIA ABSTRACTS

S04
ALCOHOL PROBLEMS IN YOUNG ADULTS TRANSITIONING FROM ADOLESCENCE TO ADULTHOOD: RACE, GENDER AND TRANSLATIONAL FINDINGS


S04.1 IDENTIFYING SUBSTRATES OF THE NEUROTOXIC EFFECTS OF ETHANOL EXPOSURE DURING ADOLESCENCE IN RATS

1. C.L. Ehlers

+ Author Affiliations

1. Department of Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences, The Scripps Research Institute La Jolla, La Jolla, CA, USA

Abstract

Substance abuse typically begins in adolescence; therefore, the impact of alcohol on during this critical time in brain development is of particular importance. Epidemiological data indicate that excessive alcohol consumption is prevalent among adolescents and may have lasting neurobehavioral consequences. We have shown that adolescent ethanol exposure via vapor in rats can produce changes in sleep and arousal, impairments in anxiety and affective behavior as well as cortical, hippocampal and basal forebrain neurophysiological function, well into adulthood. However, the neuroanatomical substrates of these effects have yet to be determined. The loss of cholinergic input to the forebrain has been demonstrated following fetal alcohol exposure and in adults with Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome. In the present study, immunohistochemistry for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) was determined to assess forebrain cholinergic neurons (Ch1–4), and behavioral deficits following adolescent alcohol exposure. Wistar rats were exposed to ethanol vapor (14 h/on 10 h off/day) for 35 days from P22 to P57 (average BAC 163 mg%). Rats were withdrawn from vapor and assessed for locomotor activity, startle response, conflict behavior in the open field and immobility in the forced swim test as adults. Rats were then sacrificed at Day 72 and perfused for histochemical analyses. Ethanol vapor exposed rats displayed: increased locomotor activity 8 h after the termination of vapor delivery for that 24 h period at Day 10 and 20 of alcohol vapor exposure, significant reductions in the amplitude of their responses to prepulse stimuli during the startle paradigm at 24 h withdrawal, and at 2 weeks following withdrawal, less anxiety-like and/or more ‘disinhibitory’ behavior in the open field conflict, and more immobility in the forced swim test. Quantitative analyses of ChAT immunoreactivity revealed a significant reduction in cell counts in the Ch1–2 and Ch3–4 regions of the basal forebrain in ethanol vapor exposed rats. This reduction in cell counts was significantly correlated with less anxiety-like and/or more ‘disinhibitory’ behavior in the open-field conflict test. These studies demonstrate that behavioral measures of arousal, affective state, disinhibitory behavior and ChAT-IR are all significantly impacted by chronic adolescence ethanol exposure and withdrawal in Wistar rats.

• © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol. All rights reserved

S04.2
ADOLESCENT INTOXICATION AND ALCOHOL-RELATED COMPLICATIONS IN AMERICAN INDIAN AND MEXICAN AMERICAN YOUNG ADULTS

1. C.D. Gilder and Ehlers

+ Author Affiliations

1. The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

Abstract

Earlier age of onset of drinking has been associated with increased frequencies of alcohol-related complications in young adults in the predominantly EuroAmerican NESARC sample. However, little is known about the association of early drinking with alcohol complications in American Indian and Mexican American young adults. Using the SSAGA, a sample of 380 (171 men, 209 women) young adult American Indians living on contiguous reservations and a sample of 299 (120 men, 179 women) young adult Mexican Americans living in or near immigrant communities were interviewed for demographic variables, lifetime alcohol-related complications, age of first alcohol intoxication, lifetime DSM-III-R ASPD diagnosis and quantity (q) and frequency (f) of alcohol consumption during the period of heaviest alcohol use. Thirteen interpersonal, risk-taking, medical and emotional complications were identified. Logistic regression analyses were undertaken separately for each sample with each complication as the dependent variable and age, gender, age of first intoxication, ASPD and q*f as the independent variables in each analysis using the backward stepwise approach of Wald. In American Indians, earlier age of first intoxication was significantly associated (p-value, OR) with arguments (0.001, 1.25), serious problems in a marriage/love relationship (0.036; 1.07), alcohol withdrawal seizures/DTs (0.044, 1.13) and emotional problems (0.048, 1.07). In Mexican Americans, earlier age of first intoxication was significantly associated with problems with friends (0.039, 1.07), problems in work or school (0.004, 3.06), arguments (0.027, 1.22) and hitting/throwing things (0.029, 1.34). Similar to the NESARC sample, earlier age of first intoxication was significantly associated with alcohol-related complications in young adult American Indians and Mexican Americans in the presence of other putative covariates. Earlier age of intoxication appears to play a role distinct from age, gender, ASPD and q*f alcohol consumption in increasing the risk for alcohol-related complications.

S04.3
GENDER AND ETHNIC COMPARISON OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM DRINKING AMONG YOUNG ADULTS

1. M. Hesselbrock

+ Author Affiliations

1. University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Psychiatry, Farmington, CT, USA

Abstract

Many studies have shown that significant gender differences exist with regards to the prevalence of alcohol consumption and problem drinking. More men than women consume alcoholic beverages in higher amounts and more frequently. Consequently, more men than women develop alcohol dependence and alcohol-related problems. This prospective study of adolescents and young adults, ranging in age from 13 to 21 years old at baseline, examined gender and ethnic differences in risk factors and the development of problem drinking in young adults. Subjects were assessed at baseline and at 5- and 10-year follow-ups. The sample included 148 males and 190 female adolescents; 58% were Caucasian, 23.4% African American and 16% Hispanic. The rate of follow-up was 83% at T2 and 74% at T3. Assessments included the Semi-structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA), family history, alcohol and drug use survey, personality measures, cognitive functions and assessment of environment. There were gender and ethnic differences in the rates of follow-up completion. More women completed Time 2 and 3 follow-ups. Among men, the completion rates were higher among whites than blacks, but no ethnic differences were noted among the women. The mean age of onset of first tobacco use preceded marijuana and alcohol, and no gender and ethnic differences were noted. While all women tended to use marijuana and alcohol later than men, black men reported using marijuana (mean age, 14.4 years) before having their first drink (15.82 years). In contrast, white men reported taking their first drink (14.9 years) before using marijuana (15.7 years). The frequencies of getting high and drunk were higher among men than women and among whites than blacks at baseline. The frequencies of getting high and getting drunk increased at both Time 2 and 3 with the expected gender and ethnic differences. Further, as expected, more males than females experienced alcohol problems and related conditions.

S04.4
DEVIANCE PRONENESS AS A MODEL OF ALCOHOLISM RISK

1. V. Hesselbrock,
2. M. Hesselbrock,
3. G. Chan and
4. COGA colleagues

+ Author Affiliations

1. University of CT School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

Abstract

This presentation will examine Sher's (1991) Deviance Prone Model of vulnerability for developing alcohol-related problems due to a family history of alcohol dependence. Three different alcohol-related outcomes will be examined: the age of onset of drinking, frequency of alcohol use and age of onset of alcohol problems. Using a high-risk prospective study design, we have initially assessed 338 (n = 148 boys) adolescents ascertained from the community. The average age of the sample at baseline was 16.5 (14–17) years; they had completed 10 years of primary education. All subjects were non-abusing and non-dependent on alcohol or drugs at Time 1. To date, 246 ethnically diverse subjects recruited from the community who have completed a baseline, 5- and 10-year follow-up assessments. The Deviance Prone vulnerability model tested includes temperament traits related to behavioral undercontrol, cognitions (alcohol expectancies) and the frequency of a variety of conduct problems in childhood and early adolescence as predictors of the age of onset of substance use as well as the frequency of alcohol use in young adulthood. Conduct problems did predict an early age of onset of alcohol/drug use (β = −0.41), while an early age of onset predicted frequency of alcohol use (β = −0.17). Alcohol expectancies predicted frequency of alcohol use (β = 0.32). The model provided a good fit for the data (χ²/df = 2.6, P < 0.001; CFI = 0.922; RMSEA = 0.088). The results show that conduct problems were consistent predictors of pathological alcohol involvement over time. While negative affect alone did not directly influence the onset of alcohol use, it appeared to affect quantity and frequency of alcohol use once drinking and drinking problems were established. Paternal substance dependence was predictive of conduct problems and age of first alcohol use in T2. Conduct problems, negative affect and alcohol expectancy in T1 predicted T3 alcohol use behaviors.