Trial reportBiological psychiatry2012
Intravenous ethanol infusion decreases human cortical γ-aminobutyric acid and N-acetylaspartate as measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 4 tesla.
Trial report in Biological psychiatry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03220776 (Imaging Framework for Testing GABAergic/Glutamatergic Drugs in Bipolar Alcoholics), which is not on this map. Cited by 52 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Imaging Framework for Testing GABAergic/Glutamatergic Drugs in Bipolar Alcoholics
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reduction of N-acetylaspartate in the medial prefrontal cortex correlated with symptom severity in obsessive-compulsive disorder: meta-analyses of (1)H-MRS studies.Translational psychiatry · 2012Pooled it
- Using naltrexone to validate a human laboratory test system to screen new medications for alcoholism (TESMA)- a randomized clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2023Trial
- The neurobiological markers of acute alcohol's subjective effects in humans.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Simultaneous edited MRS of GABA, glutathione, and ethanol.NMR in biomedicine · 2020Trial
- Comparison of Subjective Responses to Oral and Intravenous Alcohol Administration Under Similar Systemic Exposures.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Trial
- Oxytocin's neurochemical effects in the medial prefrontal cortex underlie recovery of task-specific brain activity in autism: a randomized controlled trial.Molecular psychiatry · 2015Trial
- Effects of family history of alcohol dependence on the subjective response to alcohol using the intravenous alcohol clamp.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2013Trial
- Fronto-striatal neurometabolite signatures of impulsivity in early abstinence from methamphetamine.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Article
- Recent advances in alcohol metabolism: from the gut to the brain.Physiological reviews · 2025Review
- Article
- Linking alcohol use to Alzheimer's disease: Interactions with aging and APOE along immune pathways.Medical research archives · 2024Article
- Imaging neuroinflammation in individuals with substance use disorders.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Review
- Binge and high-intensity drinking-Associations with intravenous alcohol self-administration and underlying risk factors.Addiction biology · 2022Article
- Repeatability and reliability of GABA measurements with magnetic resonance spectroscopy in healthy young adults.Magnetic resonance in medicine · 2021Article
- The neurobiology of wellness:NeuroImage · 2021Article
- Cortical Glutamate and GABA Changes During Early Abstinence in Alcohol Dependence and Their Associations With Benzodiazepine Medication.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Intraindividual changes in brain GABA, glutamate, and glutamine during monitored abstinence from alcohol in treatment-naive individuals with alcohol use disorder.Addiction biology · 2020Article
- To Infuse or Ingest in Human Laboratory Alcohol Research.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2020Review
- Dose-dependent metabolite changes after ethanol intoxication in rat prefrontal cortex using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Brain Glutamate, GABA, and Glutamine Levels and Associations with Recent Drinking in Treatment-Naïve Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder Versus Light Drinkers.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEthanol modulates glutamate and γ-aminobutyric (GABA) function. However, little is known about the acute pharmacologic effects of ethanol on levels of GABA, glutamate, and other metabolites measurable in the human cortex in vivo with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS).
methodsEleven healthy social drinkers received two intravenous ethanol infusions that raised breath alcohol levels to a clamped plateau of 60 mg/dL over 60-70 min. The first infusion established tolerability of the procedure, and the second procedure, conducted 15 ± 12 days later, was performed during (1)H-MRS of occipital GABA, glutamate, and other metabolites.
resultsThe time course of brain ethanol approximated that of breath ethanol, but venous ethanol lagged by approximately 7 min. The GABA fell 13 ± 8% after 5 min of the ethanol infusion and remained reduced (p = .003) throughout the measurement. The combination of N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartyl glutamate (summed as NAA) fell steadily during the infusion by 8 ± 3% (p = .0036).
conclusionsEthanol reduced cortical GABA and NAA levels in humans. Reductions in GABA levels are consistent with facilitation of GABA(A) receptor function by ethanol. The gradual decline in NAA levels suggests inhibition of neural or metabolic activity in the brain.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.