Alcohol and Gender Effects on Stress Circuit Function

University of Cincinnati96 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this study is to look at the stress hormone response to medication-induced stress and a placebo (an inactive compound) in non-drinking, recovering male and female alcoholics, with a specific emphasis on the differences between men and women in the two recovering alcoholic groups.

Women and men differ in the ways stress affects the development and maintenance of alcoholism. However, no published studies in alcohol dependent patients have examined sex differences in stress responsiveness that most likely mediate these effects and influence the clinical course and treatment of the disorder. The long-range goal of this research program is to define aspects of the neural, genetic and environmental mechanisms differentially regulating the stress response in alcohol dependent women and men. The proposed study extends prior work revealing sex-dependent alterations in basal and serotonin-induced stress hormone concentrations in abstinent alcoholics. Our central hypothesis is that sex differences in serotonin function or HPA sensitivity conspire with genetically influenced alterations in serotonin signaling to produce maladaptive stress responses in some alcoholic women. These altered stress responses may serve as the target of novel, sex-specific pharmacotherapies.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

TRIPLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Alcoholism Stress Alcohol Dependence

Interventions

CitalopramDRUG

Subjects receive provocative tests with citalopram, dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone and placebo on 3 separate, counterbalanced occasions at monthly intervals.

PlaceboOTHER

Subjects receive provocative tests with citalopram, dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone and placebo on 3 separate, counterbalanced occasions at monthly intervals.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Able to provide written consent. * Are actively engaged in a recovery program for alcoholism; * Have a current (within the past 12 months) diagnosis of DSM-IV alcohol dependence in early- (modified to a minimum of 4 months) full remission; and * Are residing in a controlled sober living environment; and * Agree to provide at least one collateral informant who knows the subject well and can attest to their sobriety (recovering alcoholics only). Exclusion Criteria: * Have evidence of any clinically significant laboratory evidence of hematologic, hepatic, cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary, thyroid or other endocrine disease; * Are taking oral contraceptives or other hormonal replacements (e.g., estrogen or progesterone); * Are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant during the next 9 months; * Have taken other psychotropic drugs (including SSRIs, MAO inhibitors and other antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, non-benzodiazepine anxiolytics or hypnotics) within 6 weeks of the first laboratory session; * Have taken any investigational drug within 90 days of the first laboratory session; or * Are making efforts to quit smoking or have taken any pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation (i.e., bupropion, nicotine-replacement patches or gum; clonidine, buspirone) within 90 days of the first laboratory session.

Locations (1)

The Department of Veterans Affairs / Veterans Healthcare System of Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

stress

Time frame: month

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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