Neonatal vitamin K might reduce vulnerability to alcohol dependence in Danish men.
OBJECTIVE
Levels of oxidative defenses and blood-clotting factors are normally reduced in newborns, increasing the risk of injury to developing brain structures around the time of birth. This early neonatal vulnerability corresponds to a timeframe in which the development of reward-related limbic structures is particularly active. Taking advantage of a serendipitous event in the history of treating newborns, we tested the hypothesis that vitamin K supplementation, administered to facilitate the synthesis of blood-clotting proteins within this critical timeframe, might also reduce the development of alcohol dependence later in life.


METHODS
Subjects were approximately full-term male infants, selected from a large Danish birth cohort. Two thirds of the original 330 subjects in this study were high-risk sons of alcoholic fathers; 241 of the total completed the 30-year follow-up. Of subjects reported on for this article (N = 238), 44 received vitamin K supplementation at birth; 161 were considered high risk, and 66 were categorized as having lower birth weight (<6 lbs). A comprehensive series of measures was obtained on each subject before, during and shortly after birth as well as at 1 year of age. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, diagnosis of alcohol dependence and a measure of lifetime problem drinking served as the 30-year outcome variables.


RESULTS
Vitamin K treatment, inherited risk and low birth weight each independently predicted alcohol dependence and problem drinking at age 30. Vitamin K treatment was associated with significantly lower rates of alcohol dependence and fewer symptoms of problem drinking.


CONCLUSIONS
Vitamin K treatment at birth might protect against the development of alcoholism in adults by reducing early postnatal hemorrhage and oxidative brain damage.
Manzardo
Ann M
AM
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66160, USA. amanzardo@kumc.edu
Penick
Elizabeth C
EC
Knop
Joachim
J
Nickel
Elizabeth J
EJ
Hall
Sandra
S
Jensen
Per
P
Miller
Cheryl C
CC
Gabrielli
William F
WF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000517:prevention & control; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008032:Limbic System / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D012201:Reward; D012306:Risk; D014812:Vitamin K / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors; D014812:Vitamin K