Posted on 08/10/2005 10:55:59 AM PDT by LibWhacker
A gene that helps fruit flies develop alcohol tolerance has been found – and named “hangover”. The gene also controls the flies’ response to stress, and the researchers say that a similar pathway linking alcohol tolerance and stress probably functions in humans.
The findings may explain why people who have been in a stressful situation often have a blunted response to alcohol and may drink more to feel inebriated, experts say, putting them at greater risk of becoming addicted.
Ulrike Heberlein at the University of California at San Francisco, US, and Henrike Scholz from the University of Würzburg in Germany, exposed fruit flies to ethanol vapour. Intoxicated fruit flies show similar behaviour to tipsy humans: they lack coordination and postural control and then fall asleep. It took the flies an average of 20 minutes to recover following their exposure.
After four hours on the wagon, the same Drosophila were again exposed to alcohol. By now, they had developed a tolerance to alcohol and so needed more to reach the same drunkenness, and took longer to “dry out” - 28 minutes.
But flies with a defective form of the hangover gene still took 20 minutes to recover from inebriation time after time - never building up a tolerance.
Stressed out
The researchers then investigated how the gene was involved in stress responses since, in humans at least, the alcohol and stress responses appear to be linked.
A stress response was triggered in a new batch of fruit flies with working hangover genes by heating them to 37°C for 30 minutes. Four hours later, the flies were exposed to alcohol and despite this being their first alcoholic experience, they showed a high tolerance – taking an average of 29.5 minutes to sober up.
But the same increased alcohol tolerance was not seen when flies with the defective gene were exposed to alcohol. “There is growing recognition that stress, at both cellular and systemic levels, contributes to drug- and addiction-related behaviours in mammals. Our studies suggest that this role may be conserved across evolution,” Heberlein and Scholz suggest.
The findings help to define the role that stress has in addiction, says Leslie Morrow, at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, US. “Prior stress can induce tolerance to alcohol even if a person has never had a drink before. And that increased tolerance means that a person can drink more and more before becoming inebriated, making it more likely that they will end up with an addiction problem.”
There may be people in the population who have an over-expression of the human equivalent of the hangover gene and who may especially at risk from developing addiction problems, Morrow adds.
What's a hangover?
Uh, am I missing something?
Do I need some over-bloated research project to tell me
that some guys can't hold their liquor?
Uh, am I missing something?
Do I need some over-bloated research project to tell me
that some guys can't hold their liquor?
The likelihood of serious liver damage is incredible here, because the "stop" mechanism never kicks in.
Simply amazing ain't it? Makes ya wanna drink.
LOL
Data: Stressful job - more tolerance - become alcoholic.
Results: Liberals get data - eliminate personal responsibility - punish employers who don't completely eliminate stress in their work place.
According to a friend who is a doctor, it is very difficult to kill your liver with alcohol. Most of the cases they see are all-day liquor drinkers who mix it with drugs. Usually, alcohol drinkers die of something else first.
Yes...and to some on these boards, unless it is proven in a study of some type, your personal obervations don't mean diddly.
People have said that, among his other gifts, Babe Ruth had that ability.
Wow this brings a whole new meaning to bar flies.
I've always been very grateful (though perhaps not at the worst moments during a hangover) that I have no tolerance for buckets of booze!
See: Ted "The Swimmer" Kennnedy.
“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana daiquiri.”
Reminds me of a t-shirt. AVOID HANGOVERS STAY DRUNK
We need to find us some of them hangover flies and eat 'em.
You know you're hungover when...
1. You're convinced that chirping birds are Satan's pets.
2. Trying to gain control of the situation, you continue to tell your room to "stay still."
3. Looking at yourself in the mirror induces the same reaction as chugging a glass of fresh paint.
4. You'd rather have a pencil jammed up your nose than be exposed to sunlight.
5. You set aside an entire morning to spend some quality time with your toilet.
6. You replace the traditional praying on your knees with the morefeasible praying in a fetal position.
7. The bathroom reminds you of a carnival barker shouting, "Step right up and give it a shot!"
8. All day long your motto is, "Never again."
9. You could purchase a new PC just by recycling the bottles around your bed.
10. Your natural response to "Good morning," is "Shut the f*** up!!!!""
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