We investigated the dynamics of α-MSH and β-END during alcohol withdrawal and the influence of intraperitoneal administration of either α-MSH or β-END in an established rodent model (Wistar rats) for alcohol dependence.
Persistent alterations of proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) and mu-opioid receptor (Oprm1) activity and stress responses after alcohol are critically involved in vulnerability to alcohol dependency.
Although acupuncture activates β-endorphin neurons in the ARC projecting to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a role for ARC β-endorphin neurons in alcohol dependence and acupuncture effects has not been examined.
We found that central serotonergic mechanisms, along with differences in pituitary and adrenal sensitivity, mediated sexually-diergic ACTH and cortisol responses in a stressor-specific manner regardless of a personal history of alcohol dependence.
Previous findings of the Franconian Alcoholism Research Studies showed that both the CAGn of the androgen receptor (AR) and the promoter methylation of the hypothalamic peptide proopiomelanocortin (POMC) were associated with craving of male alcohol-dependent patients.
Thus, the data obtained suggest no association of the selected polymorphisms of the genes OPRM1/POMC and OPRK1/PDYN with alcoholism in Croatian population.
Thus, the data obtained suggest no association of the selected polymorphisms of the genes OPRM1/POMC and OPRK1/PDYN with alcoholism in Croatian population.
Here we describe epigenetic modifications of Pomc gene that transmit through generation via male germline and may be critically involved in alcoholism-inherited diseases.
Genetic variation at a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) of both humans and rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta has been associated with differential affinity to the endogenous ligand beta-endorphin as well as alterations in pain sensitivity, drug and alcohol dependence, and social behaviors.The new study by Higham et al.
We analysed the DNA methylation of the 5' promoter of the POMC gene that is embedded in a CpG island using bisulfite sequencing in 145 alcohol-dependent patients and 37 healthy controls taken from the Franconian Alcoholism Research Studies.
Therefore, our data provide no support for the idea that variations in OPRM1, OPRD1, PENK and POMC are associated with alcohol dependence or general illicit drug dependence, but variations in PENK and POMC appear to be associated with the narrower phenotype of opioid dependence in these families.
The response of the pituitary beta-endorphin to a placebo or an alcohol (0.50 g ethanol/kg) drink and to a stress task performed 30 min following ingestion of either the placebo or the alcohol drink was measured in social and heavy drinkers with [high risk (HR)] and without [low risk (LR)] a family history of alcoholism.
Persons who differ in family history of alcoholism have been shown to also differ in basal beta-endorphin activity, beta-endorphin response to alcohol, and subjective and HPA axis hormonal response to opioid antagonists.
Experimental evidence indicates that components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and of the endogenous opioid system, such as beta-endorphin (beta-END), influence alcohol consumption, whereas chronic alcohol abuse alters the activity of both systems.
The purpose of this study was to examine ACTH, cortisol, and prolactin responses to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), citalopram, as a function of personal or family history of alcohol dependence in a group of abstinent alcohol dependent men.
These studies investigated the response of pituitary beta-endorphin to stress and the effect of alcohol on the stress response in subjects at low (LR) and high (HR) risk of alcoholism, as determined from their family history.
Taken together with other recent findings, the results suggest that the beta-E response to alcohol may represent a new biomarker that can be used to identify individuals who are at elevated genetic risk for developing alcoholism.