0000000000089849
AUTHOR
Philippe Pfeifer
Broad disruption of brain white matter microstructure and relationship with neuropsychological performance in male patients with severe alcohol dependence.
Aims In the last years, refined magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) methods have become available to study microstructural alterations in the human brain. We investigated to what extent white matter tissue abnormalities are present in male patients after chronic, excessive alcohol consumption and if these alterations are correlated with measures of alcohol consumption and neuropsychological performance. Methods Twenty-four detoxified adult male patients with severe alcohol dependence and 23 healthy male control subjects were included in the study. Neuropsychological tests were assessed for executive function, attention, memory and visuospatial function. DTI was acquired and pr…
Alcohol Consumption in HealthyOPRM1G Allele Carriers and Its Association with Impulsive Behavior
AIMS: A link between alcohol use disorders (AUD) and impulsivity is well established. As there is evidence for the heritability of AUD, the investigation of the underlying genetic disposition for both conditions is an important issue. An association between AUD and a coding single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs1799971 encoding an Asn40Asp amino acid substitution, A118G) within the µ-opioid receptor 1 gene (OPRM1) has been reported. Therefore we tested the association between the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism and drinking as well as impulsive behavior in social drinkers. METHODS: A total of 214 healthy male social drinkers were recruited. Each participant was genotyped for the OPRM1 A118G vari…
Serum concentrations of hydroxybupropion for dose optimization of depressed patients treated with bupropion.
Background Bupropion is a dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor approved for the treatment of depression and smoking cessation. According to the recently published reviews, it is a candidate for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce risks of intolerability or intoxication. In practice, however, the use of TDM is limited due to the chemical instability of bupropion. This investigation sought to determine if the major, active, and chemically stable metabolite 4-hydroxybupropion is a suitable measure to guide antidepressant drug therapy with bupropion. Methods 4-Hydroxybupropion serum levels were measured using a newly developed and validated hig…
Acute effect of intravenously applied alcohol in the human striatal and extrastriatal D2 /D3 dopamine system
Investigations on the acute effects of alcohol in the human mesolimbic dopamine D2 /D3 receptor system have yielded conflicting results. With respect to the effects of alcohol on extrastriatal D2 /D3 dopamine receptors no investigations have been reported yet. Therefore we applied PET imaging using the postsynaptic dopamine D2 /D3 receptor ligand [18 F]fallypride addressing the question, whether intravenously applied alcohol stimulates the extrastriatal and striatal dopamine system. We measured subjective effects of alcohol and made correlation analyses with the striatal and extrastriatal D2 /D3 binding potential. Twenty-four healthy male μ-opioid receptor (OPRM1)118G allele carriers underw…
Impulsiveness and venturesomeness in German smokers.
Introduction Cigarette smoking is a behavior, which is influenced by genetic, demographic, and psychological factors. A large body of research has examined the association of cigarette smoking variables with individual differences in personality traits. The aim of the current study was to replicate the findings of higher self-reported impulsivity in smokers compared with never-smokers in a German sample using Eysenck´s construct of impulsivity. Furthermore, it was intended to further the knowledge about associations between different self-reported impulsivity components and different smoking variables. Methods We used the Impulsiveness-Venturesomeness-Empathy questionnaire (I7) to measure s…