Elevations in MAO-A level, especially in the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex (PFC and ACC), are associated with low mood states, including the dysphoria of early alcohol withdrawal in humans.
A functional genetic polymorphism of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) that participates in converting dopamine into its final metabolite HVA was investigated for an association with alcoholism or DT during alcohol withdrawal.
Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) is an antistress neuropeptide transmitter in the brain that counteracts corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-mediated stress and anxiety symptoms during drug and alcohol withdrawal.
Although negative affect mediated in part by corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is a strong motivator for alcohol consumption in adults, comparisons of alcohol withdrawal in adolescents and adults generally have not included CRF-related measures such as anxiety.
Together, these data suggest that withdrawal from chronic ethanol dysregulates local CRF-GABAergic microcircuit to inhibit anxiolytic outputs of the BNST which may contribute to enhanced anxiety during alcohol withdrawal and drive alcohol-seeking behavior.
Our study investigated whether the DBH-1021C-->T polymorphism and plasma DbetaH activity were associated with alcoholism or with delirium tremens (DT) during alcohol withdrawal by analyzing 207 German alcoholic and 102 healthy control subjects.
While DRD2-gene methylation did not differ significantly between patients and controls, we found a significant increase of DRD2-gene methylation during alcohol withdrawal/early abstinence.
Our results show statistically significant associations between SNP in exon 8 A/G in the DRD2 gene and alcohol withdrawal syndrome with seizures, and between SNP in promoter -141 C I/D in the DRD2 gene and early onset of alcohol dependence (AD).
FKBP5 encodes FK506-binding protein 5, a glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-binding protein implicated in various psychiatric disorders and alcohol withdrawal severity.
This is the first report indicating a possible significant role of the GAD1 gene in the development of alcohol dependence and/or the course of alcohol withdrawal and outcome of alcoholism.
However, alcohol-dependent subjects with the Asp allele showed a significantly higher GH response at day 7 after alcohol withdrawal and a tendency to lower novelty seeking.
Our results suggest that activation of the NR1-CaMKII-ERK pathway in the mPFC and NAcSh is an important contributor to the molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol withdrawal-induced anxiety behaviors.
The associations of GRIN2B polymorphism (rs1806201) with alcohol withdrawal and related clinical parameters in alcohol dependent subjects were investigated.
Here, we employed neuropharmacological approaches to examine the functional relevance of AcbSh mGlu5 for behavioral indices of alcohol withdrawal-induced hyper-anxiety.
The goal of this study was to examine depression-like behavior during alcohol withdrawal and associated changes in histone acetylation and expression of histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for mood regulation and depression.