[Alcoholism and depression (author's transl)]

Alcoholism and depression have always been in intricated. A lot of studies try presently to precise this relation:--Clinical studies about episodic alcoholism.--Genetical studies showing a debatable relation between alcoholism and unipolar depression.--Biological studies essentialy attesting a depressive action of ethanol among the serotoninergic system: ethanol would deviate the serotonin metabolism. Likewise it would induce a depletion of catecholamines in the brain. More, biochemical researches point out an inheritance of ethanol preference which would be correlated with a decrease of the brain level of serotonin. Is is a genetical transmission of alcoholism: these perturbations could manifest themselves by the ethanol dependence, or by depressive trends?