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S081-4

The Role of Brain Dopamine Transporter in the Development of Alcohol
Dependence

San-Yuan Huang

National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan

Background/Objective: Dopamine plays an important role in the development of alcohol
dependence (AD) and cognitive dysfunction, and it is regulated by dopamine transporter (DAT)
activity. Although DAT is critically involved in AD, the DAT studies in AD are limited. We
investigated the correlation between brain DAT with cognitive function and specific personality traits
in AD patients. Brain image with 99mTc-TRODAT-1 as a ligand was used to measure DAT
availability in 26 male patients with pure AD and in 22 age- and sex- matched healthy volunteers.
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire were administered to
assess neurocognitive function and personality traits, respectively. AD patients showed a significant
reduction in DAT availability (p < 0.001), and poor performance on the WCST compared to healthy
controls (p < 0.001). DAT availability negatively correlated with total and perseverative errors in
both patients and controls, but only AD patients showed positive correlation between DAT
availability and harm avoidance personality. Reduction in DAT availability may play a
pathophysiological role in the development of pure AD and is associated with neurocognitive deficits.
Moreover, personality may influence the development of pure AD, but different clinical subgroups
should be examined to confirm this.