This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Bipolar illness and alcoholism have similar underlying neuroendocrine abnormalities, however these similarities have not been well studied. Specifically, this study will assess the presence of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation as a predictor of alcohol relapse in bipolar patients by 1)evaluating and comparing, by a combined dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neuroendocrine challenge, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) function of bipolar disorder and co-morbid alcohol abuse or dependence (BP/Etoh)to biopolar disorder without alcohol use (BP), 2)evaluating and comparing the relationship between HPA axis activation and neuropsychological-assessment of executive functioning, verbal memory, and working memory in subjects with bipolar disorder and co-morbid alcohol abuse or dependence (BP/Etoh) and subjects with bipolar disorder and no alcohol abuse or dependence (BP), and 3) evaluating under naturalistic conditions, thus representative of current community treatment standards, whether HPA axis activation is predictive of poor outcome (mood or alcohol relapse).
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