SMOKING AND INTOXICATION AFTER ALCOHOL CHALLENGE IN WOMEN AND MEN - GENETIC INFLUENCES

In an earlier analysis, men and women who were current or former smoke rs were found to report feeling less intoxicated on average than nonsm okers after ingestion of a challenge dose of alcohol. Here, we examine whether differences in a subjective response to alcohol and a tendenc y to smoke cigarettes are transmitted together in families; and, if so , whether this association might be entirely explained by the same her itable factors that influence alcohol intake (as we might expect if bo th smoking and subjective intoxication are influenced by some general susceptibility for substance use), Alcohol challenge data an 388 Austr alian male and female twins (194 complete pairs) were reanalyzed using multivariate genetic analysis to evaluate the association between cig arette smoking and self-report intoxication after a standard dose of a lcohol. In women, we could not reject the hypothesis of complete genet ic overlap between effects on intoxication rating and history of smoki ng, and a significant residual genetic correlation between smoking and postalcohol intoxication persisted even when genetic influences on al cohol consumption were controlled for. In men, the familial associatio n seemed to be largely environmentally mediated and associated with di fferences in drinking history. These findings prompt the question of w hether, In some individuals, cigarette smoking may contribute to the d evelopment of tolerance to the effects of alcohol.