"What we've tried to show in this study," said Rosana Camarini, the study's lead author who is conducting post-doctoral research in neurology at the University of California San Francisco, "is that it may be possible to block behavioral sensitization to alcohol by using NMDA receptor antagonists. The specific one we studied is called MK-801."
Alcohol affects virtually every organ system in the body and alters the activity of most major
neurochemicals. Alcohol's effects on the glutamate system are of particular interest to researchers.
Glutamate acts as one of the brain's endogenous (made within the body) excitatory systems. A subtype
of glutamate receptors, the n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, is highly sensitive to low doses of
alcohol. Evidence indicates that alcohol may interact directly with the NMDA receptor complex.
Indeed, NMDA receptors may be involved in sensitization to, tolerance of, and physical dependence on a
variety of drugs, including opiates, nicotine, antidepressants and alcohol. NMDA receptor
antagonists - in this case, MK-801 - appear to be able to "block" some of the pleasing effec
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Contact: Rosana Camarini, Ph.D.
rosanac@itsa.ucsf.edu
510-985-3924
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
13-Mar-2000