Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Alcohol. 2013 Aug;47(5):399-403. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2013.05.003. Epub 2013 Jun 6.
Accumulating evidence continues to link certain aspects of the endogenous cannabinoid (EC) system with alcohol dependence, negative-reinforcement learning, and the modulation of stress responses. Specific alterations in brain regions that are related to stress and negative-reinforcement learning have been reported to exist in Cloninger type 1 and type 2 alcoholics. To study possible differences in profiles of EC systems between Cloninger type 1 (n = 9) and type 2 (n = 8) alcoholics and non-alcoholic control subjects (n = 10), we analyzed post-mortem amygdala and hippocampus brain samples for several ECs by quantitative liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass-spectrometric detection. A significant difference was found between these 3 groups in terms of EC profiles in the amygdala (p = 0.037). In particular, this difference was prominent for variations in docosahexaenoylethanolamide levels, which were significantly higher in type 1 alcoholics (p = 0.022) when compared to controls. There was also a large negative correlation between anandamide concentration and mGlu1/5 receptor density in the hippocampi of Cloninger type 1 alcoholics (R = -0.88, p = 0.002), which was not seen in Cloninger type 2 alcoholics or in controls. Although preliminary, and from relatively small diagnostic groups, these results suggest that the EC system profile may be altered in the hippocampus and amygdala of Cloninger type 1 alcoholics.
越来越多的证据表明，内源性大麻素（EC）系统的某些方面与酒精依赖、负强化学习和应激反应的调节有关。据报道，在 Cloninger 1 型和 2 型酗酒者中，与应激和负强化学习相关的大脑区域存在特定的改变。为了研究 Cloninger 1 型（n=9）和 2 型（n=8）酗酒者和非酗酒对照者（n=10）之间 EC 系统的可能差异，我们通过定量液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱检测分析了死后杏仁核和海马脑样本中的几种 EC。在杏仁核中，这 3 组之间的 EC 谱存在显著差异（p=0.037）。特别是，1 型酗酒者的二十二碳六烯酰乙醇胺水平变化明显较高（p=0.022），与对照组相比存在显著差异。Cloninger 1 型酗酒者的海马中，大麻素浓度与 mGlu1/5 受体密度之间也存在很大的负相关（R=-0.88，p=0.002），而在 Cloninger 2 型酗酒者和对照组中则没有这种相关性。尽管这些结果初步来自相对较小的诊断组，但它们表明，EC 系统的特征可能在 Cloninger 1 型酗酒者的海马体和杏仁核中发生改变。
