Why Alcoholism is a Disease

We could all use more empathy in our world.

Glossary

Neuropeptide Y (NPY):
This is a neurotransmitter. In the amygdala, it's presence is experimentally shown to reduce stress and anxiety

Histone Acetyltransferase (HAT):
These proteins add acetyl groups to histones which causes the surrounding DNA to loosen up and be available for transcription.

Histone Deacetylase (HDAC):
These proteins remove acetyl groups from histones which causes the surrounding DNA to tighten up around the histone.

DNA Methyltransferase (DNMT):
This protein can add methyl groups to CpG islands in the DNA. This can block transcription factors from binding to a gene promoter region preventing its transcription

CpG Island:
A cytosine-phosphate-guanine island is a section of DNA with a large numb of Cytosine followed by guanine pairs. These are usually found at gene promoter regions.

CBP:
CREB-Binding protein is a transcription factor with intrinsic HAT activity. It is shown to promote the transcription of NPY in the amygdala


Sources:
EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF ALCOHOLISM AND STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5464725/)

Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression in the Alcoholic Brain(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860426/)

Anxiety and alcohol abuse disorders: a common role for CREB and its target, the neuropeptide Y gene (doi.org/10.1016/S0165-6147(03)00226-8)

Epigenetics—Beyond the Genome in Alcoholism (pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arcr343/293-305.ht…)

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