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© 1995 Medical Council on Alcohol

research-article

VASOPRESSIN SECRETION AND MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN ALCOHOLIC KORSAKOFF'S SYNDROME

ROBIN A. EMSLEY*, MIMI C. ROBERTS, COR AALBERS1, FRANS J. J. TALJAARD1, SHARON KAPNIAS, HUIBRIE C. PIETERS and THEUNS J. V. W. KOTZE

Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch
1Medical Research Council Unit for the Neurochemistry of Mental Disorders

* Author to whom correspondence should at addressed at: Department of Psychiatry. PO Box 19063, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa

Received 15 February 1994; first review notified 1 September 1994; accepted 9 September 1994

The response of arginine vasopressin (AVP) to an intravenous hypertonic saline infusion was investigated in 19 patients with alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome, 17 non-amnesic alcoholics and 21 non-alcoholic controls. Compared with non-alcoholic controls the Korsakoff patients had elevated basal AVP levels and showed erratic fluctuation of AVP secretion, not related to changes in serum sodium levels. The non-amnesic alcoholics had a similar, but less severe derangement. Neuropsychological tests revealed significant correlations between basal AVP levels and memory performance in the non-amnesic alcoholics, raising the possibility of a common lesion—most likely in the diencephalon—lor memory impairment and AVP dysregulation in chronic alcoholics.


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