Family history of alcoholism and response to sweets.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between a hedonic response to sweet tastes and a propensity to excessive alcohol drinking is supported by both animal and human studies. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the genetic risk for alcoholism as measured by a paternal history of alcoholism in young social drinkers is associated with sweet-liking, defined as rating the strongest offered sucrose solution (i.e., 0.83 M) as the most palatable during the standard sweet test.


METHODS
Participants were 163 subjects (39% male) without a lifetime history of alcohol or drug abuse or dependence. Eighty-one subjects had a paternal history of alcoholism (FH+), and 82 did not (FH-). Each subject rated a series of sucrose solutions for intensity of sweetness and palatability. Subjects were categorized as sweet-likers if they rated the highest sucrose concentration as the most pleasurable.


RESULTS
The estimated odds of being a sweet-liker were 2.5 times higher for FH+ than for FH- subjects. FH+ subjects disliked the tastes of the two weakest offered sucrose concentrations (0.05 and 0.10 M), whereas FH- subjects reported these tastes to be neutral.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study support the hypothesis that sweet-liking is associated with a genetic vulnerability to alcoholism.
Kampov-Polevoy
Alexey B
AB
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA. kampov@earthlink.net
Garbutt
James C
JC
Khalitov
Elena
E
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D013395:Sucrose / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*
D013395:Sucrose