From the, Division of Life Sciences, (MEB, JFB, EV, BV), Department of Kinesiology and Health, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies, (MEB, JFB, EV, BV, LML), Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, Piscataway, New Jersey.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2020 Mar;44(3):589-599. doi: 10.1111/acer.14293. Epub 2020 Feb 17.
Low sensitivity to alcohol in persons with a family history of alcoholism (FH+), compared to those without (FH-), contributes to risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, sensitivity of FH+ cardiovascular response to alcohol is not well understood. This gap is significant because cardiovascular processes contribute to emotional regulation and stress response problems theorized to be central to the development and persistence of AUD. This study compared changes in heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) between FH groups after consuming alcohol and control beverages and examined how these changes were moderated by emotional and alcohol-related contexts.
Young adults (N = 165) with FH+ (n = 110) or FH- (n = 55) each completed 2 sessions, separated by 1 week. They received one of 3 different beverages (alcohol, placebo, and told-no-alcohol) in each session. Electrocardiogram data were recorded during pre-beverage consumption and post-beverage consumption baselines, and then during 4 picture cue tasks (neutral, positive, negative, and alcohol-related). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine differences in cardiovascular reactivity (changes in HR and HRV power at ~ 0.1 Hz) across FH groups, beverage conditions, and picture cue tasks.
A significant beverage condition × cue task × FH interaction effect on HRV was observed. The FH+ group, compared to the FH- group, showed (a) significantly less HRV suppression in specific cue contexts following alcohol, (b) a mixed pattern of more and less HRV suppression across cue contexts following placebo, and (c) a similar HRV reactivity pattern in the told-no-alcohol condition across cue tasks. For HR, there were no significant effects involving FH.
Diminished cardiovascular sensitivity to oral alcohol in FH+ persons varied within a given drinking episode depending on emotional and alcohol-related features of the context, suggesting that environmental characteristics play a role in the expression of low sensitivity to alcohol among FH+ individuals.
与没有家族酗酒史（FH-）的人相比，有家族酗酒史（FH+）的人对酒精的敏感度较低，这增加了他们患上酒精使用障碍（AUD）的风险。然而，FH+心血管对酒精的反应敏感性尚不清楚。这一差距非常重要，因为心血管过程有助于情绪调节和应激反应，而这些问题被认为是 AUD 发展和持续的核心。本研究比较了 FH 组在饮用酒精和对照饮料后的心率（HR）和心率变异性（HRV）变化，并研究了这些变化如何受到情绪和酒精相关背景的调节。
有 FH+（n=110）或 FH-（n=55）的年轻成年人（N=165）每人完成 2 次试验，间隔 1 周。他们在每次试验中都接受了 3 种不同饮料（酒精、安慰剂和告知无酒精）中的一种。在饮用前和饮用后基线期间记录心电图数据，然后在 4 个图片提示任务（中性、积极、消极和与酒精相关）期间记录。使用广义估计方程来检验 FH 组、饮料条件和图片提示任务之间心血管反应性（HR 和 HRV 功率在~0.1 Hz 时的变化）的差异。
观察到 HRV 上存在显著的饮料条件×提示任务×FH 相互作用效应。与 FH-组相比，FH+组在以下情况下 HRV 抑制明显减少：（a）在饮酒后特定提示情境中，（b）在安慰剂后提示情境中表现出更多和更少的 HRV 抑制的混合模式，以及（c）在无酒精提示任务中 HRV 反应模式相似。对于 HR，没有涉及 FH 的显著效应。
在给定的饮酒事件中，FH+个体对口服酒精的心血管敏感性降低程度因环境和酒精相关特征的不同而不同，这表明环境特征在 FH+个体对酒精敏感性降低的表现中发挥作用。
