Branchey L, Branchey M, Zucker D, Shaw S, Lieber C S
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1985 Sep-Oct;9(5):393-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1985.tb05569.x.
Alcohol has been observed to alter various aspects of memory function. Some of the most extreme forms of memory impairment experienced by alcoholics are blackouts. There are at present very few data on the biological mechanisms underlying alcohol-related memory impairment. A variety of mechanisms including the cholinergic and catecholaminergic systems have been implicated in learning and memory. More recently, however, the importance of the serotonergic system in memory function has been demonstrated. We investigated whether patients with a history of blackouts had lower plasma levels of the serotonin precursor tryptophan than patients without such a history. Tryptophan values were significantly lower in patients who had experienced blackouts than in patients who had not. No significant differences between the two group of patients were observed for other amino acids sharing with tryptophan the same transport carrier into the brain. Drinking history variables did not differentiate among the two patient groups. Our data suggest that a decrease in plasma tryptophan (and concomitant lowered brain serotonin) could increase the vulnerability of certain individuals to manifestations of various aspects of memory impairment including one of its most extreme forms, the blackout.
人们观察到酒精会改变记忆功能的各个方面。酗酒者经历的一些最极端的记忆障碍形式是昏厥。目前，关于酒精相关记忆障碍背后的生物学机制的数据非常少。包括胆碱能和儿茶酚胺能系统在内的多种机制与学习和记忆有关。然而，最近已经证明了血清素能系统在记忆功能中的重要性。我们调查了有昏厥病史的患者血浆中血清素前体色氨酸水平是否低于无此病史的患者。有昏厥经历的患者色氨酸值显著低于无昏厥经历的患者。在与色氨酸共用同一载体转运进入大脑的其他氨基酸方面，两组患者之间未观察到显著差异。饮酒史变量在两组患者之间没有差异。我们的数据表明，血浆色氨酸的减少（以及随之而来的大脑血清素水平降低）可能会增加某些个体出现各种记忆障碍表现的易感性，包括其最极端的形式之一——昏厥。
