A [C-11]Ro15 4513 PET study suggests that alcohol dependence in man is associated with reduced alpha 5 benzodiazepine receptors in limbic regions

作者：Lingford Hughes Anne^*; Reid Alastair G; Myers James; Feeney Adrian; Hammers Alexander; Taylor Lindsay G; Rosso Lula; Turkheimer Federico; Brooks David J; Gra**y Paul; Nutt David J

来源：Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2012, 26(2): 273-281.

DOI：10.1177/0269881110379509

• Alcoholism
• benzodiazepine
• memory
• PET
• Ro15 4513

Preclinical evidence suggests the alpha 5 subtype of the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor is involved in some of the actions of alcohol and in memory. The positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, [C-11]Ro15 4513 shows relative selectivity in labelling the alpha 5 subtype over the other GABA-benzodiazepine receptor subtypes in limbic regions of the brain. We used this tracer to investigate the distribution of alpha 5 subtype availability in human alcohol dependence and its relationship to clinical variables. Abstinent (%26gt;6 weeks) alcohol-dependent men and healthy male controls underwent an [C-11]Ro15 4513 PET scan. We report [C-11]Ro15 4513 brain uptake for 8 alcohol-dependent men and 11 healthy controls. We found a significant reduction in [C-11]Ro15 4513 binding in the nucleus accumbens, parahippocampal gyri, right hippocampus and amygdala in the alcohol-dependent compared with the healthy control group. Levels of [C-11]Ro15 4513 binding in both hippocampi were significantly and positively associated with performance on a delayed verbal memory task in the alcohol-dependent but not the control group. We speculate that the reduced limbic [C-11]Ro15 4513 binding seen here results from the effects of alcohol, though we cannot currently distinguish whether they are compensatory in nature or evidence of brain toxicity.

• 出版日期2012-2