Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system adaptation to detoxification in 
alcohol-dependent patients is affected by family history of alcoholism

Zimmermann, U; Hundt, W; Spring, K; Grabner, A; Holsboer, F

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system adaptation to detoxification in alcohol-dependent patients is affected by family history of alcoholism

MPS-Authors

Holsboer, F
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Max Planck Society;

External Resource

No external resources are shared

Fulltext (restricted access)

There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.

Fulltext (public)

There are no public fulltexts stored in PuRe

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Zimmermann, U., Hundt, W., Spring, K., Grabner, A., & Holsboer, F. (2003). Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system adaptation to detoxification in alcohol-dependent patients is affected by family history of alcoholism. Biological Psychiatry, 53(1), 75-84.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-9F53-4

Abstract

Background: Alcohol withdrawal profoundly affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. We investigated whether a family history of alcoholism modulates HPA response to pharmacologic intervention during detoxification in alcohol-dependent patients. Methods: Sixteen family history negative (FH-N) and 19 family history positive (FH-P) alcohol-dependent patients were admitted for withdrawal. All 35 patients were investigated 1 week after remission of withdrawal symptoms; 17 patients were also tested during acute withdrawal. Dexamethasone 1.5 mg was given orally at 11 PM, followed by 100 mug corticotropin-releasing hormone (hCRH) administered intravenously at 3 PM the following day. Plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol concentrations were determined at 0, 30, 45, 60, and 75 min after CRH. Results: During withdrawal, cortisol but not ACTH secretion was increased in patients compared with 19 control subjects matched for age and gender. After withdrawal, cortisol was normal in FH-P but still increased in FH-N patients versus control subjects, and ACTH was marginally decreased in FH-P patients only. Both hormones were increased in FH-N versus FH-P patients. Conclusions: Recovery from alcohol withdrawal-induced impairment of HPA system regulation occurs earlier in FH- P than FH-N patients, indicating that the efficacy of central neuroadaptation to this ethanol-related stimulus may be related to genetic factors. (C) 2003 Society of Biological Psychiatr