Molecular genetic analysis of the role of GABAergic systems in the behavioral and cellular actions of alcohol

Journal/Book: Behav Genet. 1996; 26: 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013. Plenum Publ Corp. 313-323.

Abstract: Recent studies implicate the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in many neurochemical actions of ethanol and a variety of behavioral responses to acute and chronic ethanol treatment. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for genetic differences in initial neurochemical or behavioral sensitivity to ethanol, and adaptation following chronic or repeated ethanol administration, remain to be elucidated. Pharmacogenetic research will increasingly move toward mapping, cloning, identification, and functional analysis of the genes underlying the actions of ethanol. The approaches discussed here permit molecular analysis of both known and previously unknown genes regulating behavioral sensitivity to ethanol. The synthesis of molecular methods and behavioral genetics offers immediate hope for delineating the role of the GABA(A) receptor complex, and other determinants of GABAergic neurotransmission, in determining genetic variation in behavioral responses to ethanol.

Note: Article KJ Buck, Oregon Hlth Sci Univ, Vollum Inst L474, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Pk Rd, Portland, OR 97210 USA

Keyword(s): ethanol; gamma-aminobutyric acid; GABA(A) receptor subunit; quantitative trait loci; genetic mapping; glutamic acid decarboxylase; GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC-ACID; BENZODIAZEPINE INVERSE AGONISTS; WITHDRAWAL SEIZURE SEVERITY; OPERATED CHLORIDE CHANNELS; ETHANOL TREATMENT ALTERS; SHORT-SLEEP MICE; GLUTAMATE-DECARBOXYLASE; LONG-SLEEP; 2 FORMS; AUDIOGENIC-SEIZURES

Zurück | Weiter