Short-term Effects of Alcohol - Research

Research

Animal models using mammals and invertebrates have been informative in studying the effects of ethanol on not only pharmacokinetics of alcohol but also pharmacodynamics, in particular in the nervous system. Ethanol-induced intoxication is not uncommon in the animal kingdom, as noted here:

"Many of us have noticed that bees or yellow jackets cannot fly well after having drunk the juice of overripe fruits or berries; bears have been seen to stagger and fall down after eating fermented honey; and birds often crash or fly haphazardly while intoxicated on ethanol that occurs naturally as free-floating microorganisms convert vegetable carbohydrates to alcohol."

More recently, studies using animal models have begun to elucidate the effects of ethanol on the nervous system. Traditionally, many studies have been performed in mammals, such as mice, rats, and non-human primates. However, non-mammalian animal models have also been employed; in particular, Ulrike Heberlein group at UC San Francisco has used Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, taking advantage of its facile genetics to dissect the neural circuits and molecular pathways, upon which ethanol acts. The series of studies carried in the Heberlein lab has identified insulin and its related signaling pathways as well as biogenic amines in the invertebrate nervous system as being important in alcohol tolerance. The value of antabuse (disulfiram) as a treatment for alcoholism has been tested using another invertebrate animal model, the honey bees. It is important to note that some of the analogous biochemical pathways and neural systems have been known to be important in alcohol's effects on humans, while the possibility that others may also be important remains unknown. Research of alcohol's effects on the nervous system remains a hot topic of research, as scientists inch toward understanding the problem of alcohol addiction.

In addition to the studies carried out in invertebrates, researchers have also used vertebrate animal models to study various effects of ethanol on behaviors.