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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Alcohol self-administration acutely stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, but alcohol dependence leads to a dampened neuroendocrine state
Eur J Neurosci. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 October 1. Published in final edited form as: Eur J Neurosci. 2008 October; 28(8): 1641–1653.

Clinical studies link disruption of the neuroendocrine stress system with alcoholism, but remaining unknown is whether functional differences in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis precede alcohol abuse and dependence or result from chronic exposure to this drug.

The present results, combined with previous studies, suggest that multiple adaptations to stress regulatory systems may be brought about by excessive drinking, including a compromised hormonal response and a sensitized brain stress response that together contribute to dependence.

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