Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Addict Biol. 2010 Apr;15(2):109-24. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2009.00192.x.
There is only modest overlap in the most common alcohol consumption phenotypes measured in animal studies and those typically studied in humans. To address this issue, we identified a number of alcohol consumption phenotypes of importance to the field that have potential for consilience between human and animal models. These phenotypes can be broken down into three categories: (1) abstinence/the decision to drink or abstain; (2) the actual amount of alcohol consumed; and (3) heavy drinking. A number of suggestions for human and animal researchers are made in order to address these phenotypes and enhance consilience. Laboratory studies of the decision to drink or to abstain are needed in both human and animal research. In human laboratory studies, heavy or binge drinking that meets cut-offs used in epidemiological and clinical studies should be reported. Greater attention to patterns of drinking over time is needed in both animal and human studies. Individual differences pertaining to all consumption phenotypes should be addressed in animal research. Lastly, improved biomarkers need to be developed in future research for use with both humans and animals. Greater precision in estimating blood alcohol levels in the field, together with consistent measurement of breath/blood alcohol levels in human laboratory and animal studies, provides one means of achieving greater consilience of alcohol consumption phenotypes.
在动物研究中测量的最常见的酒精消费表型与通常在人类中研究的表型之间只有适度的重叠。为了解决这个问题，我们确定了一些对该领域很重要的酒精消费表型，这些表型有可能在人类和动物模型之间产生一致性。这些表型可以分为三类：(1) 禁欲/决定饮酒或禁欲；(2) 实际饮酒量；和 (3) 酗酒。为了解决这些表型并增强一致性，我们向人类和动物研究人员提出了一些建议。在人类和动物研究中都需要进行关于决定饮酒或禁欲的实验室研究。在人类实验室研究中，应报告符合流行病学和临床研究中使用的截止值的重度或 binge 饮酒。在动物和人类研究中，都需要更加关注随时间推移的饮酒模式。动物研究中需要解决与所有消费表型有关的个体差异。最后，未来的研究需要开发出用于人类和动物的改进的生物标志物。在现场更精确地估计血液酒精水平，并在人类实验室和动物研究中一致测量呼吸/血液酒精水平，是实现酒精消费表型一致性的一种手段。
