[Alcohol and the serotonin system]

Abstract

There is considerable evidence from animal and human studies that serotonin plays a role in the modulation of alcohol intake and/or alcohol dependence. Biochemical, behavioral and pharmacological studies both in animal and man had verified this hypothesis. Central and peripheral levels of serotonin and of its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) are modified by alcoholisation. Moreover, the use of pharmacological drugs modifying specifically serotonin transmission decreases ethanol intake. Our own studies suggest that a dysfunctioning of serotonin uptake system could be implicated in the individual risk of alcohol dependence. Even if other systems, e.g. amino acids, are involved in the regulation of alcohol behavior, all data are in favor of a modulation of alcohol intake by serotonin transmission.