Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0278080 (physical dependence)
 1,658 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The biological mechanisms examined in this paper cover only a small portion of those that may be involved in the pathogenesis of alcoholism. Certain areas on which a great deal of work has already been done have been entirely omitted. Among these are studies on brain acetylcholine and gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolism in alcohol-related conditions; the effect of alcohol on brain proteins and nucleotides and the relationship of changes in these to the development of tolerance and physical dependence; and a variety of other areas involving biochemical and physiological parameters. The omission of any of these areas in no way suggests that they are less significant than those that have been covered. It is just that I have attempted to present a cohesive and coherent review of some areas of biological research which thus far appear to throw light on the clinical development and phenomenology of the alcoholism syndrome. In order to present such a thesis, I have inevitably crowded the evidence to fit some of my pet hypotheses. However, in controversial areas (which are many), I have tried to present some of the evidence on both sides and, hopefully, have succeeded in offering a fair overview of the state of the science as it exists today.
 ...
PMID:Biological investigations in alcohol research. 4 96

Of 102 alcoholics admitted to an alcoholism treatment unit one third (33) were clinically rated as having a disabling agoraphobia and/or social phobia, and a further third (37) as having less disabling phobic symptoms of either or both kinds. Questionnaires and self-report symptom scales were used to validate the clinical ratings. Alcohol problem screening tests and consumtpion levels confirmed the severity of alcohol dependence. In a group of 44 phobic alcoholics who reports and physical dependence significantly more frequently than the converse. The prevalence of agoraphobia and social phobia in alcoholics is discussed in relation to prevalence date in affective and normal populations, together with their implications for the aetiology of phobias and alcohol det approaches and prognosis.
 ...
PMID:Alcohol dependence and phobias: clinical description and relevance. 53 13

Many alcoholics appear to be especially susceptible to developing tolerance to and physical dependence on alcohol. Elucidation of a biochemical abnormality associated with this special proneness could lead to advances in both diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism.
 ...
PMID:Dependence proneness, a key target for alcoholism research. 83 49

This paper critically examines the concept that physical dependence is a necessary attribute for animal models of human alcoholism. On the basis of a review of the literature, it is argued that, since the production of physical dependence requires the presence of continuous high blood-alcohol levels, and since the production of preference for alcohol requires intermittent presentation of alcohol, the two cannot, in principle, be established in the same organism at the same time. It is further argued that physical dependence does not play a role in the development of high alcohol intake in animals. The implications of these observations for human alcoholism are discussed.
 ...
PMID:The role of physical dependence in animal models of human alcoholism. 103 55

Although it has not yet been possible to construct a complete model of alcoholism in experimental animals; some aspects of the disease can now be studied with satisfactory laboratory systems. Production of physical dependence requires a period of continuous intoxication; brief intervals of sobriety allow the accrued dependence to disappear. Administration of ethanol by inhalation, with daily injections of pyrazole, allows maintenance of stable blood alcohol levels in mice. In this model, physical dependence arises to its maximum in a week or two and can decay in less than a day. Sedative drugs suppress the mouse withdrawal reactions but drugs that intefere with catecholamine or gamma-aminobutyric acid pathways facilitate withdrawal seizures. Susceptibility to withdrawal seizures is controlled in part by genetic factors.
 ...
PMID:Physical dependence on alcohol in mice. 109 38

Alcoholism is an extremely common psychosocial behavioral disorder for which genetic factors may play an important role. Statistical analysis of special kinds of family studies that separate inherited factors from the common family environment point strongly to genetic predisposition. This paper presents data and speculations on the genetically determined differences among population subgroups and individuals in the acute effects of ethanol ingestion, the metabolism of ethanol, the process of tolerance, physical dependence and addictability, premorbid personality features and serious complications of alcoholism in the liver and brain of the alcoholic and in the offspring of alcoholic mothers.
 ...
PMID:Alcoholism: a pharmacogenetic disorder. 110 Oct 45

In a rat model of alcoholism, different stages of the development towards a drug addiction can be discriminated. During the phase of "controlled" intake, drug consumption is reversibly modified by the social situation (housing conditions) and the individual's social role (in particular his dominance rank). In Wistar rats, this period lasts about half a year. During the next few months, the consumption of ethanol rises without a concomitant loss of its behavioral effects. After an abstinence period of nine months, the rats maintain a high preference for alcohol which cannot be suppressed by adulteration with (unpleasantly tasting) quinine. Ethanol-taking behavior can no longer be modified by external stimuli or by dominance rank. This irreversible state is called "behavioral dependence." It is drug-specific (i.e., other drugs like diazepam cannot substitute the alcohol) and not related to physical dependence. In behaviorally dependent rats, the effects of ethanol are altered; very low doses tranquillize the rats, higher ones stimulate them.
 ...
PMID:An ethopharmacological approach to the development of drug addiction. 179 14

The recent investigations on biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of ethanol in acute intoxication, tolerance and physical dependence suggest that the cell membrane, intracellular metabolism and central neurotransmitters are involved. In acute intoxication ethanol increases the "fluidity" of the cell membrane and stimulates the central gabergic system. In alcoholics, the body adapts, and in the presence of ethanol, the cell membrane becomes more "rigid" and the gabergic system hypoactive. When alcohol intake is discontinued the hypoactivity of the gabergic system is unmasked and it is manifested as withdrawal syndrome. The alcohol intake compensates for the clinical symptoms of decreased gabergic activity and thereby continuously prevent the onset of withdrawal symptoms. On the other hand, intact central noradrenergic and 5-hydroxytryptaminergic systems as well as the neuropeptide vasopressin maintain the tolerance. After withdrawal syndrome, membrane alterations and the state of diminished gabergic activity gradually return to normal. This period of slow recuperation corresponds to the subacute withdrawal syndrome. In this period, there is a continuous desire for alcohol intake. Further, alcoholics, in this situation, are very vulnerable with feelings of insecurity, fragility and isolation. All these factors additionally induce a latent desire for ethanol. It follows then that a stimulation of decreased gabergic activity is a new approach in drug therapy of alcoholism. One of these new stimulants is acamprosate. The new substance is a structural analogue of GABA and acts as an agonist on gabergic receptors. Therefore, acamprosate improves the central gabergic activity. Alcoholics treated with acamprosate stated that they no longer felt a desire for alcohol intake. In this way, acamprosate maintains the abstinence for several months during the post-withdrawal phase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:[Modern drug therapy in alcoholism]. 180 68

This chapter examines positive and negative reinforcement mechanisms which play a significant role in alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Consideration is given to the role of euphoria and anxiolytic effects of alcohol as the basis of positive reinforcement, and physical dependence and aversive consequence of drinking as the basis of negative reinforcement. The motivational significance of each of these is discussed with respect to various animal models of addiction and clinical and human research. Brain neurochemistry, neuropharmacology and genetic research data are evaluated from the perspective of reinforcement mechanisms involved with alcohol addiction.
 ...
PMID:Alcohol: mechanisms of addiction and reinforcement. 216 35

In experimental dipsomania model (formation of physical dependence by method of intensive alcoholization) we have studied receptor binding of testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) in the hypothalamus and pituitary body of mature male rats. Administration (at 10 and 16 h) of 25% ethanol-saline solution at a dose of 7.5 g/kg of body weight in the course of 5 days significantly decreased serum T level but did not change serum LH and FSH levels. Essential reduction of the nuclear androgen receptors in the preoptic-anterior hypothalamic area (POA), mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) and adenohypophysis was noted in alcohol-treated rats. Unlike androgen receptors the number of the nuclear E2-binding sites in PaO was significantly increased in these males. Thus the results of the present paper demonstrate that multiple administration of ethanol stipulates deficit of serum T, androgen receptors in MBH and pituitary body that possibly results in separation of negative feedback mechanism between the gonads and pituitary body. Increase of specific binding of E2 to nuclear receptors in PoA might appear to explain feminization of alcohol-treated rats.
 ...
PMID:[Effect of alcohol on the content of sex steroid receptors in the hypothalamus and hypophysis of male rats]. 249 26


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next >>