Alcohol Intoxication Increases Allopregnanolone Levels in Female Adolescent Humans (original) (raw)

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• Published: 22 January 2003

Neuropsychopharmacology volume 28, pages 1207–1209 (2003)Cite this article

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Abstract

Teenage drinking is a cause of growing concern in industrialized countries, where almost 35% of alcohol drinkers are under 16 years old. Increased anxiety, irritability, and depression among adolescents may induce them to seek the anxiolytic and rewarding properties of alcohol. We studied the effects of acute alcohol intoxication (AAI) on the plasma levels of progesterone and allopregnanolone in female adolescents. Blood samples were drawn from female adolescents who arrived at the emergency department. One study group was formed by those who arrived with evident behavioral symptoms of AAI and the other by those arriving for mild trauma (contusions, sprains) after no consumption of alcohol (controls). Our results demonstrate that AAI significantly increases serum progesterone and allopregnanolone levels in both follicular and luteal phases of the ovarian cycle. Since alcohol and allopregnanolone positively modulate gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors, allopregnanolone may play a major role in the anxiolytic and rewarding effects of alcohol, either directly or by influencing the sensitivity of GABAA-receptors to alcohol.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Roussel–Uclaf for their generous gift of allopregnanolone reagent kits. We thank R Davies for revising the English text, and M Quintana and R Arcas for their technical assistance. The authors are indebted to the Clinico University and Trauma Hospitals of Granada for their help. This work was funded in part by DGICYT PM97-0177 and by the Andalusia Regional Government through its ‘Endocrinology and Metabolism’ research project.

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1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
   J M Torres & E Ortega

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1. J M Torres
2. E Ortega

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Correspondence toE Ortega.

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Torres, J., Ortega, E. Alcohol Intoxication Increases Allopregnanolone Levels in Female Adolescent Humans.Neuropsychopharmacol 28, 1207–1209 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300170

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• Received: 22 July 2002
• Revised: 24 October 2002
• Accepted: 13 January 2003
• Published: 22 January 2003
• Issue date: 01 June 2003
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300170

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