Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon 24252, Korea.
Laboratory of Brain & Cognitive Sciences for Convergence Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 25;19(7):3911. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073911.
Acute alcohol intake is known to cause gait instability, dizziness, and lack of psychomotor coordination. Previous studies demonstrated the positive effects of alcohol on the oculomotor system and the low-frequency vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). However, the low-frequency VORs is a rather un-physiologic stimulation, and the reported explanations regarding the relations between the alcohol-induced VOR changes and posture control are inconsistent.
The present study evaluates how acute alcohol intake affects more physiologic mid- to high-frequency VORs, postural control, and elucidates the connection between the VOR and posture control after alcohol intake.
A total of 31 healthy volunteers participated. Each participant received calculated amounts of alcohol drinks according to their body weight and genders with the targeted blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.05% using the Widmark formula. A vestibular test battery composed of posturography, video head impulse test, rotatory chair test (slow harmonic acceleration (SHA) and step velocity), and subjective visual vertical/horizontal tests (SVV/SVH) were conducted twice in alcohol-free condition (no alcohol intake within 24 h) and acute alcohol condition.
Acute alcohol intake decreased stability scores in all NS/EO (normal stability-eyes open), NS/EC (normal stability- eyes closed), PS/EO (perturbed stability-eyes open), and PS/EC (perturbed stability-eyes closed) conditions. High-frequency VOR gains decreased, but mid-frequency VOR gains were not significantly affected by alcohol intake. In addition, time constants were reduced significantly after alcohol ingestion in both clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation. Phase lead in SHA test and SVV/SVH was not affected by alcohol intake.
Acute alcohol intake affected postural stability, high-acceleration head impulses, and the velocity storage mechanism.
急性酒精摄入已知会导致步态不稳、头晕和运动协调能力下降。先前的研究表明，酒精对眼动系统和低频前庭眼反射（VOR）有积极影响。然而，低频 VOR 是一种相当不生理的刺激，关于酒精引起的 VOR 变化与姿势控制之间关系的报告解释不一致。
本研究评估急性酒精摄入如何影响更生理的中频到高频 VOR、姿势控制，并阐明酒精摄入后 VOR 和姿势控制之间的联系。
共有 31 名健康志愿者参与。根据 Widmark 公式，根据体重和性别计算每位参与者所需的酒精饮料量，以达到目标血液酒精含量（BAC）水平 0.05%。使用前庭测试电池，包括姿势描记术、视频头脉冲测试、转椅测试（缓慢谐波加速（SHA）和步速）和主观垂直/水平测试（SVV/SVH），在酒精禁食条件（24 小时内无酒精摄入）和急性酒精条件下进行两次。
急性酒精摄入降低了所有 NS/EO（正常稳定性-睁眼）、NS/EC（正常稳定性-闭眼）、PS/EO（干扰稳定性-睁眼）和 PS/EC（干扰稳定性-闭眼）条件下的稳定性评分。高频 VOR 增益降低，但中频 VOR 增益不受酒精摄入影响。此外，酒精摄入后，顺时针和逆时针旋转的时间常数均显著降低。SHA 测试和 SVV/SVH 的相位超前不受酒精摄入影响。
急性酒精摄入影响姿势稳定性、高加速度头部脉冲和速度储存机制。
