title: Beer flavor provokes striatal dopamine release in male drinkers: mediation by family history of alcoholism.
abstract: Striatal dopamine (DA) is increased by virtually all drugs of abuse, including alcohol. However, drug-associated cues are also known to provoke striatal DA transmission- a phenomenon linked to the motivated behaviors associated with addiction. To our knowledge, no one has tested if alcohol's classically conditioned flavor cues, in the absence of a significant pharmacologic effect, are capable of eliciting striatal DA release in humans. Employing positron emission tomography (PET), we hypothesized that beer's flavor alone can reduce the binding potential (BP) of [(11)C]raclopride (RAC; a reflection of striatal DA release) in the ventral striatum, relative to an appetitive flavor control. Forty-nine men, ranging from social to heavy drinking, mean age 25, with a varied family history of alcoholism underwent two [(11)C]RAC PET scans: one while tasting beer, and one while tasting Gatorade. Relative to the control flavor of Gatorade, beer flavor significantly increased self-reported desire to drink, and reduced [(11)C]RAC BP, indicating that the alcohol-associated flavor cues induced DA release. BP reductions were strongest in subjects with first-degree alcoholic relatives. These results demonstrate that alcohol-conditioned flavor cues can provoke ventral striatal DA release, absent significant pharmacologic effects, and that the response is strongest in subjects with a greater genetic risk for alcoholism. Striatal DA responses to salient alcohol cues may thus be an inherited risk factor for alcoholism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
authors.forename: Brandon G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Oberlin
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dzemidzic
authors.forename: Stella M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Soeurt
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Karmen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Yoder
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kareken
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D001515:Beer; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D003463:Cues; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D005192:Family Health; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020891:Raclopride
chemical_list: D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D020891:Raclopride; D004298:Dopamine