Sudden unemployment or the loss of a partner are very stressful events. Nevertheless, most people manage to cope with such life phases relatively well and get over the tragic events by and by. But there are also people who do not manage to do so. Sometimes this leads to alcohol addiction. Why is this so?
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Professor Rainer Spanagel at the German National Genome Research Network is investigating the causes of alcohol addiction. His findings indicate that certain gene defects are linked with a higher susceptibility to alcohol addiction.
The root of the problem may lie in a disturbance in a signaling network in the brain - the so-called CRH system - that regulates certain kinds of behaviour in stress situations. The corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is an important component of this system. It is a messenger substance with many talents: It coordinates stress situations and regulates behavioral responses such as anxiety.
To be able to react to the hormone CRH nerve cells need a special docking site for this messenger substance : the "CHR1"-receptor (® CHR = corticotropin releasing hormone receptor). Professor Spanagel and his staff studied mice in which the CRH1-receptor does not function due to a genetic defect and compared them with healthy mice.
But after a few weeks under stress, caused for instance by a forced short bath in water or a strange mouse sharing the cage, the alcohol consumption of the mice with the CRH1 gene defect increased threefold. The mice without a gene defect did not change their drinking habits even under these conditions.
The scientists say that the malfunction of the CRH system in the mutant mice could increase the risk for alcoholism considerably. The disturbance of the center for stress management may provoke an increase in the expression of certain proteins that cause the mice to seek solace in extra drinks.
Subsequently, Professor Spanagel wants to find out whether the gene defect also plays a role in human alcoholism. If so, then it might sometime be possible, for example, to help people who have become alcolholics following tragic life events.
Scientific studies indicate strongly that that the susceptibility for alcoholism can be genetic. Adopted children whose biological parents were alcoholics but who lived in a foster family that did not abuse alcohol are at elevated risk for alcoholism. The probability of developing an alcohol addiction is three times as high for those children compared to other adopted children.
Website of scientists involved in this NGFN project
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Alcohol Consumption and Addiction in Germany: In 2001 each German consumed 153 liters of alcoholic beverages: beer (123 l), wine (about 20 l), spirits (5.8 l) and sparkling wine (4.2 l). According to estimates of the German Society for Addiction Research and Addiction Therapy (DG-Sucht), there are 1.6 million alcohol addicts in Germany. When risky consumption behaviour, abuse and addiction are counted altogether, 9.3 million Germans aged 18 to 64 years have an alcohol problem. The losses resulting from alcohol abuse and addiction amount to about 30 billion euros per year. |
