Psychiatria pre prax 1/2014

Selected neurobiological aspects of alcohol dependence syndrome

Research of neurobiological mechanisms in the pathogenesis of alcohol dependence syndrome led to a fundamental change in the understanding of this disease as a neurobiological disorder in recent years. The results of several studies point to the new factors that have an important role in the development of alcoholism. This review describes the current knowledge regarding these factors, focusing on the role of appetite- and volume-regulating hormones, the role of genetic variants of specific transcription factors and the epigenetic alterations of candidate genes related to the pathogenesis of alcohol dependence syndrome.

Keywords: alcoholism, neuropeptides, transcription factors, epigenetic alterations.