Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are the 4th most common psychiatric disorders among young women 18 to 24 in this nation today. Alcohol abuse and social drinking may cause menstrual cycle irregularities, infertility and spontaneous abortion. Yet the 1985 PHS Task Force on Women's Health Issues (198) noted that there has been relatively little research on the health consequences of substance use and recommended """"""""studies of the significant factors related to the onset, continuation and cessation of smoking, drinking and drug-taking by women."""""""" We propose to continue studies of alcohol's effects on reproductive function in women. Alcohol's effects on adrenal cortical hormones and interactions with pituitary gonadotropins and ovarian steroid hormones will also be examined. Provocative tests of hypothalamic, pituitary and ovarian function will be used to evaluate the effects chronic alcohol abuse in alcoholic women during sobriety and the effects of acute alcohol intoxication (compared with placebo) in normal women in double-blind studies under controlled research ward condition. Gonadotropin secretory patterns in amenorrheic alcoholic women will be studied with computerized pulse frequency analysis procedures. Plasma hormone levels will be measured with standard radioimmunoassay procedures. Factors underlying alcohol-related luteal phase dysfunction will be studied by examining the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on LHRH-stimulated FSH, LH and inhibin during the early and mid-follicular phases. Alcohol's stimulatory effect on estradiol under conditions of gonadotropin stimulation will be examined in a paradigm designed to mimic the hormonal milieu of early pregnancy. Endocrine profiles in post-menopausal alcoholic women and alcohol's effects on anterior pituitary and steroid hormones in normal post-menopausal women will be examined. Studies of the neurobehavioral consequences of alcohol intoxication and the effect of alcohol pre-treatment on cigarette smoking are also proposed. Behavioral studies of the effects of alcohol pre-treatment and cigarette deprivation on tobacco acquisition and smoking patterns will be conducted with operant behavioral procedures and automated measures of puff characteristics. Covariance between mood states, EEG activity and ACTH secretion will be examined in neurobehavioral studies.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 52 publications
