Alcohol addiction: a role for acetaldehyde

Abstract

Alcoholism is a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by cycles of repeated high alcohol intake and negative emotional consequences of withdrawal thought to contribute to excessive drinking and susceptibility to relapse. In the past years, the pharmacological and behavioural effects of alcohol, such us sedation, memory and learning impairment, were assigned to the main component of alcoholic drinks, ethanol. Recently acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of ethanol, seems to exert biological activity, besides its adverse effects. The aim of the present review is to elucidate the putative role of acetaldehyde in mediating the neuronal and behavioural features induced by ethanol intake.