Alcohol-use disorders

The two most widely used sets of diagnostic criteria for alcoholuse disorders (AUD)-DSM-IV and ICD-10-replace the older descriptor, “alcoholism, ” and distinguish alcohol dependence as a more severe diagnosis from alcohol abuse (Hasin, 2003). Current proposed revisions for DSM-V will abolish this distinction (Hasin, 2012). Symptoms leading to this diagnosis in both systems include tolerance and withdrawal (or drinking to relieve withdrawal). However, most symptoms are deined behaviorally, and include loss of control, neglect of other activities, and continued drinking in the face of clear negative consequences. Persistence of multiple symptoms is required to earn a diagnosis (Hasin, 2003). his etiologic The terogeneity and the consequent The terogeneity of genetic risk means tome that there is no such thing as a “complete” genetic animalmodel for AUD, as it is a diffuse and moving target. Furthermore, there is substantial complexity introduced by the extensive comorbidity of AUD with personality and disease entities such as anxiety, depression, impulsivity, general disinhibition, and externalizing disorders, to name a few. Therefore, genetic animal models are partial, and target specific features of AUD.