Sunday, November 16, 2014

Genetic Link to Why Some Drinkers Can't Stop

Recent study shows that genetic play a major role in why some drinkers can’t stop. About 10 percent of people will develop alcohol disorders. Some ranges from mild to the severe type. Few individuals experience alcohol dependence that they can’t start or go through their days without alcohol.


A scientist at University of California found that moderate drinking activates a protein called brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). BDNF works by protecting against drinking too much. A study published in the journal or Molecular Psychiatry, they experiment on mice to determine the threshold into excess drinking is crossed. It was concluded that when mice mimic human act of binge drinking their level of BDNF protein decreased significantly. In addition, scientists discovered a corresponding microRNA called miR-30a-5p that might play a role in BDNF.

When miR-30a-5p increased, BDNF decreased and the mice wanted to drink more alcohol than water. On the hand, when miR-30a-5p was inhibited, the brain returned to normal including the drinking behaviors of the mice. The study with mice provides clues that similar results may be happening un human brain during alcohol consumption. It is possible that some people are genetically susceptible in developing alcohol disorders. One day, researchers hope that new finding might provide data to increase success rate of alcoholism therapies. 

Article: http://time.com/3528029/drinking-problem-alcohol/

1 comment:

  1. Being college students, we are all well aware of the effects of alcoholism, but we all handle them differently. BDNF protein decreases is a great result because now it is understood that maybe some people develop alcohol related disorders more easily than others do. Maybe some therapies can be implemented and done for people who are more likely to develop these disorders? Great article!

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