Stress plays a significant role in the initiation and continuation of drinking. Furthermore, epidemiological studies have shown a higher incidence of alcoholism in males than females. Objective. The current studies aimed to investigate the presence of gender differences in the interactions of ethanol and stress with the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. Methods. Participants included 12 males and 10 females with no previous personal or familial history of alcoholism. Plasma levels of ACTH and cortisol were estimated following a placebo drink, a low and a high dose of alcohol and a psychological stress task performed 30 minutes after the ingestion of the placebo, the low and the high alcohol drinks. Results. Male participants presented a more pronounced response of the HPA-axis to both alcohol and psychological stress. Prior ingestion of the low and to a lesser extent of the high dose of alcohol induced a more pronounced and longer lasting attenuation of the HPA-axis response to stress in males than females. Conclusions. There are gender differences in the interactions of ethanol and stress with the HPA-axis, which may contribute to the gender differences in alcohol consumption.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.82262 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Katopodis, Angela |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Psychiatry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002198794, proquestno: AAIMR12473, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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