title: Neonatal vitamin K might reduce vulnerability to alcohol dependence in Danish men.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66160, USA. amanzardo@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Manzardo
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Penick
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knop
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Cheryl C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Gabrielli
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors; D014812:Vitamin K