Danah Atassi
According to the Center of Disease Control, one out of every six adults binge-drink 4 times every month, so these studies reveal disturbing public health trends. As the studies “Adolescent binge-pattern alcohol exposure alters genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in the hypothalamus of alcohol-naïve male offspring” and “Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood” highlight, the research in neuroscience involving alcohol consumption reveals that both casual and excessive alcohol consumption can have ramifications on brain development not just years later in one’s life, but said ramifications could even be passed onto one’s children. The neuroscience research on the epigenetics of alcohol consumption on the brains of rats reveals important implications for public health. The importance of this research cannot be overstated considering the common overconsumption of alcohol all over the world.
Binge-drinking seems to be a cultural norm for teenagers raised in the United States with films and television casually referencing and depicting instances of binge-drinking with younger characters. Although binge-drinking remains a relatively youthful exercise, the ramifications of drinking during adolescence last for years, and even can be passed down across generations. Dr. Toni Pak’s presentation on “Neurobiological consequences of adolescent binge alcohol drinking” highlighted the epigenetic consequences of adolescent binge-drinking on future generations." Similarly, Dr. Pandey and a team of researchers at University of Illinois in Chicago published a paper “Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood.” in which the rats exposed to alcohol in adolescence were reported to have more anxious behavior in adulthood, and were more prone to consuming alcohol in adulthood compared to other rats. When interviewed by the Science Daily, Dr. Pandey stated that the study provided a means by which to understand how adolescent binge-drinking results in epigenetic changes. Likewise, Dr. Toni Pak’s paper “Adolescent binge-pattern alcohol exposure alters genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in the hypothalamus of alcohol-naïve male offspring” highlighted how specifically binge-drinking altered the methylation of the hypothalamus in rats. The difference in these two papers is the difference in the amount of alcohol exposure.
According to the article “Adolescent drinking affects adult behavior through long-lasting changes in genes,” in the Science Daily about Dr. Pandey’s article "Neurobiological consequences of adolescent binge alcohol drinking” highlighted the epigenetic consequences of adolescent binge-drinking on future generations," it was explained that even on and off exposure to alcohol changed how the brain matured in rats as they grew older. The results of Dr. Pak's paper indicated a change in methylation in the hypothalamus while Dr. Pandey's paper indicated a change in methylation in the amygdalae of the rats. Dr. Pandey's paper "Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood" emphasized a behavioral change as well in which the exposure to alcohol increased propensity to anxious behavior in rats as well as increased alcohol consumption as adults. Both of these studies emphasized the epigenetic ramifications to alcohol exposure even when the amount of alcohol exposure to the rats differed between the two studies. Dr. Pandey's paper "Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood" explored treatment options as well for the behavioral consequences of alcohol exposure with a cancer drug that revealed some possible mitigation of these negative epigenetic ramifications. The drug reduced the expression of HDAC, which seemed to work as alcohol exposure tends to increase the expression of HDAC. Both studies reveal methylation as the means of epigenetic modification even if the organs in the brain affected-amygdala and hypothalamus-differ. Both brain regions are involved in stress moderation in humans, but only Dr. Pandey's paper "Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood" measured behavioral consequences of the methylation in genes. Rats were used as the subjects of the experiment in both studies, but rat offspring were not evaluated in "Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood.”
References
Alcohol and Public Health. (2017, June 07). Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htm
Parmet, S. (2015, April 02). Adolescent drinking affects adult behavior through long-lasting changes in genes. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150402161505.htm
Dr. Toni Pak's paper: Asimes, A., Torcaso, A., Pinceti, E., Kim, C. K., Zeleznik-Le, N. J., & Pak, T. R. (2017). Adolescent binge-pattern alcohol exposure alters genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in the hypothalamus of alcohol-naïve male offspring. Alcohol,60, 179-189. doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2016.10.010
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