# Changes in Cardiovascular Control Mechanisms Related to Binge Drinking during College

> **NIH NIH R01** · RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J. · 2021 · $445,668

## Abstract

Abstract
There is strong evidence that chronic heavy alcohol use is a major risk factor for adverse cardiovascular
events in middle age, but the atherosclerotic processes that underlie heart disease and stroke are often
initiated much earlier in life as the result of potentially modifiable, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Binge drinking,
or high quantity drinking episodes that spike blood alcohol concentration, is a high-risk lifestyle behavior that is
prevalent in emerging adult and college populations. Decades of animal and human research have established
that individual drinking episodes evoke dynamic physiological, neural, and behavioral responses, but how and
when these biobehavioral adaptations to individual drinking episodes transition into chronic dysfunction and
disease is not known. This R01 application seeks to understand how drinking-related cardiovascular injury is
instigated and how it progresses. It derives from our recently completed NIAAA-funded R21 project that
produced new methodologies for studying human, preclinical cardiovascular dysfunction, identified underlying
physiological mechanisms that link behavior to cardiovascular activity, and differentiated cardiovascular
functioning in college-aged binge drinkers versus moderate/non-drinkers. This application builds on our
foundational work by proposing a longitudinal study of ostensibly healthy college students (n=300) with weekly
tracking of drinking behaviors for two years and cardiovascular assessments prior to and following this drinking
assessment period. The goal is to better capture the progression of binge drinking effects on specific
cardiovascular control systems and on the coordination across these systems. This proposal innovates through
its conceptual and methodological approach to quantifying drinking “dose” and preclinical cardiovascular
“response”. Specifically, it proposes a weekly longitudinal assessment of drinking behaviors to capture details
of individual drinking episodes, including the severity (estimated drinks per occasion), frequency (times per
week), and pacing (intervals between binges) of these episodes. It further proposes to non-invasively measure
drinking-related injury to vascular and cardiac control systems under different loading paradigms
(parasympathetic, sympathetic, and cognitive challenge tasks) and utilizes more sensitive measures to
improve detection of subtle cardiovascular change. Aim 1 seeks to identify early cardiovascular biomarkers of
binge drinking. Aim 2 will prospectively monitor detailed alcohol use data over two years and link drinking
behaviors to changes in these biomarkers. Aim 3 will explore whether binge drinking moderates the
relationship of cardiovascular functioning to cognitive performance. The use of a systems biology framework to
identify early cardiovascular biomarkers of high-risk drinking has far-reaching public health implications, as it
may provide a new tool for identifying alcohol-related cardiovascular harm...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10192610
- **Project number:** 5R01AA027017-04
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J.
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer F. Buckman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $445,668
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10192610

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10192610, Changes in Cardiovascular Control Mechanisms Related to Binge Drinking during College (5R01AA027017-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10192610. Licensed CC0.

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