An individual’s level of response to ethanol is dependent on the AFT process. We hypothesize that subtle alterations in plasma membrane structure, perhaps through natural genetic variation in the lipid metabolism machinery, could lead to differences in rates of development of AFT between individuals, which may contribute to predisposition to alcohol dependence (AD) [1]. Additional support for this hypothesis comes from the observation that membranes isolated from the brains of rats selectively bred for high and low ethanol sensitivity showed differences in their ethanol responsive phenotypes as measured by both membrane protein mobility and membrane thickness [34].
