Altered NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist response in individuals with a family vulnerability to alcoholism.
OBJECTIVE
A family history of alcoholism is a risk factor for the development of ethanol dependence. Ethanol is an antagonist of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor, and alterations in NMDA receptor function are thought to be involved in ethanol abuse and dependence. The purpose of this study was to determine in healthy individuals with no ethanol dependence whether response to the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine would differentiate those with a family history of ethanol dependence from those without such a family history.


METHODS
Healthy subjects between the ages of 21 and 30 received 40-minute intravenous infusions of saline, low-dose ketamine (0.1 mg/kg), and high-dose ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) on three separate test days in a randomized order under double-blind conditions. The healthy individuals with at least one first-degree relative and another first- or second-degree relative with ethanol dependence (N=16) were compared with those who had no family history of ethanol dependence in any first- or second-degree relative (N=29). Outcome measures included the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale, verbal fluency, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, a biphasic alcohol effects scale, visual analog scales of mood states, and ketamine levels.


RESULTS
During ketamine infusion, individuals with a family history of ethanol dependence showed an attenuated response in terms of perceptual alterations and dysphoric mood relative to those without such a family history.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that alterations in NMDA receptor function may contribute to subjective response to ethanol and therefore also to the risk of developing alcoholism.
West Haven VA Medical Center (116-A), 950 Campbell Ave., West Haven, CT 06516, USA. ismene.petrakis@yale.edu.
Ismene L
IL
Petrakis
Diana
D
Limoncelli
Ralitza
R
Gueorguieva
Peter
P
Jatlow
Nashaat N
NN
Boutros
Louis
L
Trevisan
Joel
J
Gelernter
John H
JH
Krystal
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D007649:Ketamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D010919:Placebos; D011604:Psychoses, Alcoholic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors
D010919:Placebos; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D000431:Ethanol; D007649:Ketamine