IT ONLY TAKES ONE “CONSUMPTION EVENT” FOR ALCOHOL ADDICTION TO FORM, SAYS STUDY

Sat 27 August 2022:

One drink permanently changes the “morphology of neurons” and brings about “cellular changes,” claims a study.

Alcohol addiction can start with just one alcohol “consumption event,” according to German researchers. Alcohol intoxication at a young age is a risk factor for the emergence of addictive behavior, according to the study.

The researchers studied brain scans of mice to show “lasting changes” after drinks were taken as data revealed a single exposure induced “plastic changes”. The researchers said they found “acute and lasting molecular, cellular, and behavioural changes following a single intoxication in mice”.

The team tested its hypothesis using research in fruit flies and mouse models and found ethanol-induced changes in two areas: mitochondrial dynamics and the balance between synapses in neurons.

Mitochondria supply cells and especially nerve cells with energy. In order to optimally deliver the energy to the cells, the mitochondria move. The movement of the mitochondria was disturbed in the cells treated with ethanol. The chemical balance between certain synapses was also disturbed.

These changes remained permanent and were confirmed by behavioural changes in the animals: Mice and fruit flies showed increased alcohol consumption and alcohol relapse later in life.

The morphological remodelling of neurons is a well-known basis for learning and memory. These so-called cellular plasticity mechanisms, which are central to learning and memory, are also thought to be at the core of the formation of associative memories for drug-related rewards.

Therefore, some of the observed morphological changes may influence ethanol-related memory formation. Together with the migration of mitochondria in neurons, which are also important for synaptic transmission and plasticity, the researchers speculate that these ethanol-dependent cellular changes are critical for the development of addictive behaviours.

‘It is remarkable that the cellular processes contributing to such complex reward behaviour are conserved across species, suggesting a similar role in humans,’ said Henrike Scholz. ‘It could be a possible general cellular process essential for learning and memory.’

The researchers said identifying alcohol-dependent related changes is an important first step in understanding how drinking can turn into “chronic alcohol abuse”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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