Sex differences in stress-related alcohol use

Publication date: Available online 8 February 2019Source: Neurobiology of StressAuthor(s): MacKenzie R. Peltier, Terril L. Verplaetse, Yann S. Mineur, Ismene L. Petrakis, Kelly P. Cosgrove, Marina R. Picciotto, Sherry A. McKeeAbstractRates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have increased in women by 84% over the past ten years relative to a 35% increase in men. This substantive increase in female drinking is alarming given that women experience greater alcohol-related health consequences compared to men. Stress is strongly associated with all phases of alcohol addiction, including drinking initiation, maintenance, and relapse for both women and men, but plays an especially critical role for women. The purpose of the present narrative review is to highlight what is known about sex differences in the relationship between stress and drinking. The critical role stress reactivity and negative affect play in initiating and maintaining alcohol use in women is addressed, and the available evidence for sex differences in drinking for negative reinforcement as it relates to brain stress systems is presented. This review discusses the critical structures and neurotransmitters that may underlie sex differences in stress-related alcohol use (e.g., prefrontal cortex, amygdala, norepinephrine, corticotropin releasing factor, and dynorphin), the involvement of sex and stress in alcohol-induced neurodegeneration, and the role of ovarian hormones in stress-related drinking. Finally, the potential ...
Source: Neurobiology of Stress - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research