Abstract
Rationale: Acute alcohol effects may differ in social drinkers with a positive family history of alcohol use disorders (FHP) compared to FH negative (FHN) controls. Objectives: To investigate whether FHP subjects prefer higher levels of brain alcohol exposure than do FHN controls. Materials and methods: Twenty-two young healthy nondependent social drinkers participated in two identical sessions of computer-assisted self-infusion of ethanol (CASE); the first for practicing the procedures, the second to test hypotheses. All 12 FHP (four women) and ten FHN (three women) participants received a priming exposure, increasing arterial blood alcohol concentration (aBAC) to 30 mg% at 10 min and decreasing it to 15 mg% at 25 min. A 2-h self-administration period followed, during which only the subjects could increase their aBAC by pressing a button connected to a computer controlling the infusion pump. Infusion rate profiles were calculated instantaneously to increase aBAC by precisely 7.5 mg% within 2.5 min after each button press, followed by a steady descent. Subjects were instructed to produce the same alcohol effects as they would do at a weekend party. Results: The mean and maximum aBAC during the self-administration period and the number of alcohol requests (NOAR) were significantly higher in the FHP vs. FHN participants. Conclusions: This is the first laboratory experiment demonstrating higher alcohol self-administration in FHP compared to FHN subjects. A practice session increases the sensitivity of CASE experiments for detection of subtle differences in human alcohol self-administration.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 689-697 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Psychopharmacology |
| Volume | 202 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2009 |
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Keywords
- Alcoholism
- CASE
- Ethanol
- Freibier
- Genetic risk
- Self-administration
- Sensitivity
- Tolerance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmacology
Cite this
Offspring of parents with an alcohol use disorder prefer higher levels of brain alcohol exposure in experiments involving computer-assisted self-infusion of ethanol (CASE). / Zimmermann, Ulrich S.; Mick, Inge; Laucht, Manfred; Vitvitskiy, Victor; Plawecki, Martin H.; Mann, Karl F.; O'Connor, Sean.
In: Psychopharmacology, Vol. 202, No. 4, 03.2009, p. 689-697.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Offspring of parents with an alcohol use disorder prefer higher levels of brain alcohol exposure in experiments involving computer-assisted self-infusion of ethanol (CASE)
AU - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
AU - Mick, Inge
AU - Laucht, Manfred
AU - Vitvitskiy, Victor
AU - Plawecki, Martin H.
AU - Mann, Karl F.
AU - O'Connor, Sean
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - Rationale: Acute alcohol effects may differ in social drinkers with a positive family history of alcohol use disorders (FHP) compared to FH negative (FHN) controls. Objectives: To investigate whether FHP subjects prefer higher levels of brain alcohol exposure than do FHN controls. Materials and methods: Twenty-two young healthy nondependent social drinkers participated in two identical sessions of computer-assisted self-infusion of ethanol (CASE); the first for practicing the procedures, the second to test hypotheses. All 12 FHP (four women) and ten FHN (three women) participants received a priming exposure, increasing arterial blood alcohol concentration (aBAC) to 30 mg% at 10 min and decreasing it to 15 mg% at 25 min. A 2-h self-administration period followed, during which only the subjects could increase their aBAC by pressing a button connected to a computer controlling the infusion pump. Infusion rate profiles were calculated instantaneously to increase aBAC by precisely 7.5 mg% within 2.5 min after each button press, followed by a steady descent. Subjects were instructed to produce the same alcohol effects as they would do at a weekend party. Results: The mean and maximum aBAC during the self-administration period and the number of alcohol requests (NOAR) were significantly higher in the FHP vs. FHN participants. Conclusions: This is the first laboratory experiment demonstrating higher alcohol self-administration in FHP compared to FHN subjects. A practice session increases the sensitivity of CASE experiments for detection of subtle differences in human alcohol self-administration.
AB - Rationale: Acute alcohol effects may differ in social drinkers with a positive family history of alcohol use disorders (FHP) compared to FH negative (FHN) controls. Objectives: To investigate whether FHP subjects prefer higher levels of brain alcohol exposure than do FHN controls. Materials and methods: Twenty-two young healthy nondependent social drinkers participated in two identical sessions of computer-assisted self-infusion of ethanol (CASE); the first for practicing the procedures, the second to test hypotheses. All 12 FHP (four women) and ten FHN (three women) participants received a priming exposure, increasing arterial blood alcohol concentration (aBAC) to 30 mg% at 10 min and decreasing it to 15 mg% at 25 min. A 2-h self-administration period followed, during which only the subjects could increase their aBAC by pressing a button connected to a computer controlling the infusion pump. Infusion rate profiles were calculated instantaneously to increase aBAC by precisely 7.5 mg% within 2.5 min after each button press, followed by a steady descent. Subjects were instructed to produce the same alcohol effects as they would do at a weekend party. Results: The mean and maximum aBAC during the self-administration period and the number of alcohol requests (NOAR) were significantly higher in the FHP vs. FHN participants. Conclusions: This is the first laboratory experiment demonstrating higher alcohol self-administration in FHP compared to FHN subjects. A practice session increases the sensitivity of CASE experiments for detection of subtle differences in human alcohol self-administration.
KW - Alcoholism
KW - CASE
KW - Ethanol
KW - Freibier
KW - Genetic risk
KW - Self-administration
KW - Sensitivity
KW - Tolerance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=59849112953&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=59849112953&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00213-008-1349-7
DO - 10.1007/s00213-008-1349-7
M3 - Article
VL - 202
SP - 689
EP - 697
JO - Psychopharmacology
JF - Psychopharmacology
SN - 0033-3158
IS - 4
ER -