Blunted Stress Cortisol Response in Abstinent Alcoholic and Polysubstance-Abusing Men

Lovallo, William R.; Dickensheets, Stacey L.; Myers, Dean A.; Thomas, Terrie L.; Nixon, Sara Jo

doi:10.1097/00000374-200005000-00009

Cited by 104 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…However, our findings are very much in line with those from previous research showing that smokers are characterised by relatively blunted cardiovascular (Girdler et al, 1997;Phillips et al, 2009;Roy et al, 1994;Sheffield et al, 1997;Straneva et al, 2000) and cortisol (al'Absi et al, 2003;Kirschbaum et al, 1993Kirschbaum et al, , 1994Rohleder and Kirschbaum, 2006) reactivity. They also resonate with the findings from studies linking alcoholism (Lovallo et al, 2000;Panknin et al, 2002) and risk of alcohol dependence (Sorocco et al, 2006) with blunted cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity. The present results also offer further challenge to the assumption that low stress reactivity is necessarily benign (Carroll et al, 2009, in press).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

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Preliminary evidence that exercise dependence is associated with blunted cardiac and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress

Heaney

Ginty

Carroll

et al. 2011

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Those addicted to alcohol have also been found to exhibit blunted cardiovascular and cortisol stress reactivity (Lovallo et al, 2000;Panknin et al, 2002). In addition, relatively low reactivity would appear to be a characteristic of non alcoholics with a family history of alcoholism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary evidence that exercise dependence is associated with blunted cardiac and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress

Heaney

Ginty

Carroll

et al. 2011

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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“…The increased stress response in healthy PHA subjects contrasts with findings in alcohol-dependent patients after 3-4 weeks of abstinence, in whom saliva cortisol levels were unaffected by a public speaking task, indicating an absent endocrine stress response (Lovallo et al, 2000). This difference might be due to long-lasting effects of chronic alcohol intoxication on HPA functioning and suggests that endocrine abnormalities observed in alcoholics during early abstinence cannot be interpreted as pre-existing risk factors for the development of alcoholism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Effect of Ethanol on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal System Response to Psychosocial Stress in Sons of Alcohol-Dependent Fathers

Zimmermann

Spring

Kunz-Ebrecht

et al. 2004

Neuropsychopharmacol

104

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Familial risk and environmental stress promote the development of alcohol dependence. This study tested two hypotheses: that a family history for alcoholism is associated with (i) a greater stress response and (ii) more effective stress response dampening by alcohol. We studied 29 high-risk subjects with a paternal history of alcoholism (PHA) and 23 family history negative (FHN) controls all aged 18-26 years, who were recruited using a representative sample of the local area population. Psychosocial stress was induced by having subjects deliver a speech and perform mental arithmetics in front of an audience on two separate days, after drinking either placebo or alcohol (0.6 g/kg) in a randomized double-blind crossover design. Plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) were measured up to 90 min after the test. The stress task induced a phasic increase of both hormones in PHA and FHN subjects during all experimental conditions except in tests where FHN subjects received alcohol during the second day. ACTH secretion was higher in PHA subjects during placebo experiments, but equal to controls after alcohol administration. The alcohol-induced attenuation of ACTH response was statistically significant in PHA, but not FHN, subjects. Cortisol response was higher in PHA than FHN probands if placebo was administered during the first test, but equal if subjects received alcohol first. The increased stress response and its stronger dampening by alcohol in sons of alcoholic fathers suggest a mechanism by which predisposition to develop alcohol use disorders might be expressed, implying that a transient favorable alcohol effect might occur in PHA, but not FHN, subjects.

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“…Finally, alcoholics have an abnormal HPA axis, generating more cortisol during active drinking and acute withdrawal, but a blunted stress cortisol response following 3 -4 weeks of alcohol abstinence (Lovallo et al 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Naltrexone Dampens Ethanol-Induced Cardiovascular and Hypothalamic- Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activation

McCaul

2001

Neuropsychopharmacology

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Alcohol ingestion activates the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This study examined naltrexone effects on alcohol-induced increases in physiological responses and their association with alcohol liking. Using a within-subjects design, heavy drinking men (N ϭ 19) were maintained on each of three naltrexone doses (0, 50, and 100 mg, p.o.) over an 8-day inpatient stay. Within each naltrexone dose, subjects had three alcohol challenge sessions (none, moderate, high) The brain opioid system has been proposed to be part of the neurocircuitry involved in alcohol reward and heavy alcohol drinking (Froehlich and Wand 1997;Gianoulakis and deWaele 1994;Reid et al. 1991). Pharmacological studies indicate that opioid receptor antagonists, such as naloxone hydrochloride and naltrexone, decrease alcohol self-administration in animal models (Altshuler et al. 1980;Froehlich et al. 1990;Hubbell et al. 1986Hubbell et al. , 1991Marfaing-Jallat et al. 1983;Samson and Doyle 1985;Weiss et al. 1990). Clinical trials demonstrated that naltrexone reduces alcohol drinking and self-reported "high," alcohol craving, as well as relapse rates in recently abstinent outpatient alcohol-dependent patients (O'Malley et al. 1992;Volpicelli et al. 1992Volpicelli et al. , 1995 . These findings led to naltrexone's approval by the Food and Drug Administration as a pharmacotherapeutic agent for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Naltrexone is thought to reduce alcohol-induced high and relapse by binding to opioid receptors in discrete brain regions associated with reward and craving, and to prevent receptor activation by alcohol-induced release of endogenous opioid peptides.Alcohol induces a variety of acute physiological responses when consumed in moderate-to-high doses. It is well established that intoxicating doses of alcohol increase heart rate (Docter et al. 1966;Iwase et al. 1995 McCaul et al. 1989;Sellers et al. 1972;Turkkan et al. 1988;van de Borne et al. 1997). These heart rate increases are hypothesized to be positively associated with the reinforcing or appetitive motivational effects of alcohol (Peterson et al. 1996) . Alcohol has less predictable effects on blood pressure, with reports of blood pressure increases (Iwase et al. 1995;Sellers et al. 1972) and no effects following alcohol ingestion (Turkkan et al. 1988;van de Borne et al. 1997). Finally, alcoholinduced peripheral vasodilation and associated skin temperature increases have been consistently reported (Iwase et al. 1995;Turkkan et al. 1988) and is thought to be one explanation for the lack of a consistent rise in blood pressure after alcohol consumption.Acute administration of intoxicating doses of alcohol also activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis thereby increasing ACTH and glucocorticoid levels (Inder et al. 1995;Rivier et al. 1984;Waltman et al. 1993). It remains unclear whether alcohol-induced activation of the HPA axis has any relationship to its reinforcing properties. Rodent studies show that alcohol increases pla...

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Blunted Stress Cortisol Response in Abstinent Alcoholic and Polysubstance-Abusing Men

Abstract: The apparent stress hyporesponsiveness of the AD and ADSD patients suggests a persistent disruption of HPA function, perhaps due to incomplete recovery from prior abuse, or to a preexisting alteration in neural systems that regulate HPA responses to stress.

Cited by 104 publications

References 42 publications

Preliminary evidence that exercise dependence is associated with blunted cardiac and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress

Preliminary evidence that exercise dependence is associated with blunted cardiac and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress

Effect of Ethanol on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal System Response to Psychosocial Stress in Sons of Alcohol-Dependent Fathers

Naltrexone Dampens Ethanol-Induced Cardiovascular and Hypothalamic- Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activation

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