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    Home > Active Ingredient News > Study of Nervous System > Are women more likely to drink alcohol?

    Are women more likely to drink alcohol?

    • Last Update: 2022-01-24
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    , People have a soft spot for wine since they can make wine
    .

    In ancient times, there was a wine master Li Bai's saying "You must be happy in life, don't let the golden bottle face the moon", and the current life-continuing method for young people is "Early C (Coffee) Late A (Alcohol)"
    .

    Source: New Weekly The Lancet report shows that since 1990, per capita alcohol consumption in China has increased by 70% in less than 30 years
    .

    Men tend to drink more alcohol than women.
    In 2017, Chinese men drank up to 11L/year per capita, while women only 3L/year
    .

     Source: Lancet However, a recent preclinical study overturned this view
    .

    Compared with men, the regions of the brain that control alcoholism are more excitable in women and theoretically more prone to alcoholism
    .

    The research results, published in Nature Communications by a research team from Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, have found a scientific explanation for "drinking like life"
    .

     Image source: Nature Communications researchers have found that a region of the mouse brain called the Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) acts as a relay station for nuclei in the brain's emotion regulation circuit
    .

    In humans, BNST plays an important role in the occurrence of alcoholism and anxiety behavior, and has obvious gender dimorphism (referring to the difference between different sexes of the same species)
    .

     Source: researchgate.
    net BNST is rich in a special neuron, which is used to synthesize and release corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)
    .

    As a stress neuropeptide, CRF is involved in the occurrence of anxiety and addiction disorders, which further explains why the excitation of BNST-CRF neurons can lead to alcoholism and anxiety
    .

     Using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique, researchers found that female mice accounted for 60% of active BNST-CRF neurons in the basal state, more than twice that of males (24%)
    .

    In addition, the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) was significantly higher in female mice than in males, but there was no difference in the frequency of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs and mIPSCs)
    .

    This result suggests that female mice have higher BNST-CRF excitability, exhibit higher levels of alcoholism, and require stronger functional inhibition to control alcoholism
    .

    It also explains why anxiety disorders are more common in females and often accompany alcoholism
    .

      Source: Nature Communications Reading this, do you have the same question as the editor, "Then why don't there seem to be many women who drink heavily?" This is because the brain is a sophisticated control factory, and there must be an "excited" switch.
    "Suppression" corresponds to it
    .

     In this experiment, the researchers also found that there is an area in the mouse brain called the paraventricular thalamus (PVT), and the PVT projects dense glutamatergic neurons to the BNST, thereby affecting the activity of BNST-CRF.
    act as an inhibitor
    .

    It can be understood that BNST in the excited state is the devil in the brain, it urges you to "I want to drink, keep drinking, don't stop", while PVT is the messenger of justice, reminding you to "be awake and stop drinking"
    .

     Source: Nature Communications Comparing sex differences showed that reducing the strength of PVT projections significantly increased alcoholism in female mice, but had no effect in male mice
    .

    In addition, the PVT of female mice released glutamate with less stimulation, resulting in an inhibitory effect on BNST
    .

     That is, in female mice, the mechanism of "PVT alleviating excessive drinking by inhibiting BNST" is more sensitive and stronger, providing more protection for females
    .

    This finding also answers the above question, explaining the phenomenon that "alcoholism is less common among women
    .
    "
    But when the PVT-BNST circuit was disrupted, female mice were also more likely to develop alcohol use disorder
    .

     Source: Nature Communications In summary: Researchers have discovered a PVT-BNST-CRF circuit associated with alcoholism in mice, which has obvious gender dimorphism
    .

    Compared with males, female brains in mammals have higher BNST-CRF excitability and exhibit greater levels of alcoholism
    .

    Although women are more sensitive to the inhibitory effects of PVT, once this circuit is disrupted, alcoholism is more likely to develop a disease state
    .

     "Due to cultural factors, women tend to drink less than men
    .

    But the gender gap has narrowed significantly in recent decades, especially among younger women
    .

    "This study highlights gender differences in brain mechanisms that control drinking behavior, which provides a rationale for our subsequent development of optimal treatment options for improving alcoholism," said Kristen Pleil, Ph
    .

    "The discovery of the "alcoholic" circuit in the brain can explain, to a certain extent, why there are differences in the degree of liking of alcohol among different people
    .

    Due to the different circuits in the brain of "alcoholics", for some people, drinking is just a way of socializing at the dinner table, while some people really like to drink, even if they are alone
    .

     With the Spring Festival approaching, drinking must be an indispensable part of the dinner table
    .

    The wine is fragrant, but don't be greedy
    .

    Especially for women, drinking alcohol is more likely to cause disease, and it is the best point to date
    .

    References: [1] Manthey J, Shield KD, Rylett , Hasan OSM, Probst C, Rehm J.
    Global alcohol exposure between 1990 and 2017 and forecasts until 2030: a modelling study.
    Lancet.
    2019 Jun 22;393(10190): 2493-2502.
    doi: 10.
    1016/S0140-6736(18)32744-2.
    Epub 2019 May 7.
    PMID: 31076174.
    [2] Levine, OB, Skelly, MJ, Miller, JD et al.
    The para thalamus provides a polysynaptic ventricular brake on limbic CRF neurons to sex-dependently blunt binge alcohol drinking and avoidance behavior in mice.
    Nat Commun 12, 5080 (2021).
    https://doi.
    org/10.
    1038/s41467-021-25368-y by Swagpp | Swagpp Click "Read the original text" below to download the Mace Medical APP
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