Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Study advances evidence for receptor's role in alcohol pleasure and problems

A genetic variant of a receptor in the brain's reward circuitry heightens the stimulating effects of early exposures to alcohol and increases alcohol consumption, according to a new study by NIAAA researchers. Conducted in rhesus monkeys, the study extends previous research that suggests an important role for a similar brain receptor variant in the development of human alcohol use disorders. The findings appear in the March, 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Read more »

Keywords: study, advances, evidence, receptor, role, alcohol, pleasure, problems, advance, problem

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "Study advances evidence for receptor's role in alcohol pleasure and problems":

1. Food Restriction Increases Dopamine Receptor Levels in Obese Rats
   10-25-2007 · Brookhaven National Laboratory
   A brain-imaging study of genetically obese rats conducted at Brookhaven provides more evidence that dopamine - a brain chemical associated with reward, pleasure, movement, and motivation - plays a role in obesity. Scientists found that genetically obese rats had lower levels of dopamine D2 receptors than lean rats. They also demonstrated that restricting food intake can increase the number of D2 receptors, partially attenuating a normal decline associated with aging.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
2. Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
   02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
3. Sleep problems -- real and perceived -- get in the way of alcoholism recovery
   12-06-2006 · EurekAlert!
   The first few months of recovery from an alcohol problem are hard enough, and they're often made worse by serious sleep problems. Now, a new study gives further evidence that insomnia and other sleep woes may actually get in the way of recovery from alcohol problems.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
4. Potential new approach to treat cognitive impairments in schizophrenia
   09-24-2007 · EurekAlert!
   A new study reports important evidence for a potential new treatment approach for those diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is considered one of the most devastating of the major psychiatric disorders, which has three distinct facets, often referred to as 'positive' (hallucinations, delusions), 'negative' (blunted emotions, reduced capacity for pleasure), and 'cognitive' (impairments in attention, memory, and problem-solving) symptoms.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
5. Depression may play a bigger role in readjustment than previously thought in troubled vets
   08-17-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Depression may be an unrecognized readjustment problem for recently returning veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a study released today at the American Psychological Association 115th Annual Convention. Researchers working with veterans referred for psychiatric evaluation from a primary care service found that major or minor depression was associated with domestic abuse and other family problems.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
6. Where do most Canadians with alcohol and drug problems live? Not where you think
   08-21-2007 · EurekAlert!
   With a Canada-wide prevalence of substance use problems estimated at 11 percent, a new CAMH study found that Ontario and Quebec had markedly lower concentrations of people with alcohol and drug problems. The study also showed that prevalence is higher in mid-sized cities than in larger ones or in rural areas.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
7. Altered expression of ultraconserved noncoding RNAs linked to human leukemias and carcinomas
   09-10-2007 · EurekAlert!
   A new study provides evidence that noncoding RNAs and interactions between noncoding genes play a much greater role in human cancer than was previously understood. The research, published by Cell Press in the September issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may be useful for identifying tumor-specific signatures associated with diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
8. New molecular regulators of hyperthyroidism and goiter
   08-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Thyroid gland function is regulated by the hormone TSH. Increased levels of TSH and increased signaling through its receptor cause hyperthyroidism and goiter. Signals downstream of the receptor for TSH were thought to be mediated mainly by the Gs protein complex. A new study now indicates that in mice Gq/G11-mediated signaling has an essential role in transmitting TSH-induced signals. This makes Gq and G11 potential new targets for the treatment of hyperthyroidism and goiter.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
9. Columbia study examines ADHD's role in smoking
   11-15-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Research has shown that most smoking in the US occurs among people who have psychiatric conditions, such as alcohol or drug abuse, major depression, anxiety and ADHD. Columbia University Medical Center researchers are recruiting smokers who have been diagnosed with ADHD to be part of a study that will help them quit smoking.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
10. Numbers, sequences pose problems for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome children
    12-20-2006 · EurekAlert!
    Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have particular difficulty understanding numbers and sequences, a University of Alberta study shows.
    Similar news · Read more »