"In studies using laboratory animals, there are likewise some initial hints that adolescent alcohol exposure influences later sensitivity to alcohol, although the available data to date are mixed, and studies often do not include adult-exposure comparison groups so it is not clear as to whether these effects are more or less pronounced than would be seen after equivalent exposure in adulthood." Despite the lack of consistent data, Matthews said two factors – the developmental nature of adolescence, and recent national reports of growing use and abuse of alcohol by adolescents – underscore the need for additional information. He and his colleagues will next investigate the effects of CIE exposure during adolescence on genetic expression in the brain, the activity of single neurons in the brain, and the biochemical mechanisms producing these effects. "It is critical to determine whether the effects observed following these very high dose exposures are more pronounced or less pronounced than after comparable exposure in adulthood," suggested Spear. "It would also be important to determine whether similar findings would also be evident at somewhat lower ethanol exposure levels that do not induce marked growth stunting and might be more analogous to ethanol exposure levels of human adolescents.
"Furthermore, it would also be interesting to try to dissect the circumstances under which CIE exposure during adolescence results in later ethanol tolerance, as in the present study, versus a later sensitized response as has been occasionally reported by others."
Part One: Early Drinking Affects Growth
