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Studies of Alpha‐2‐Adrenoceptor Function in Abstinent Alcoholics
Author(s) -
GLUE PAUL,
DOUGLAS SELLMAN J.,
GARY NICHOLLS M.,
ABBOTT ROBYN,
JOYCE PETER R.,
NUTT DAVID J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
british journal of addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0952-0481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1989.tb00556.x
Subject(s) - clonidine , abstinence , blood pressure , hormone , psychology , medicine , heart rate , hemodynamics , endocrinology , anesthesia , psychiatry
Summary Hormonal, haemodynamic and subjective psychological responses to the intravenous infusion of clonidine were investigated in nine male alcoholics who had been abstinent for 5 weeks, and were compared with those of nine healthy controls. The growth hormone response to clonidine was significantly blunted in the abstinent alcoholics. Both baseline cortisol levels and the clonidine‐induced cortisol decrease were significantly greater in the alcoholics than in controls. Blood pressure, pulse rate and psychological responses to clonidine were similar in both groups. These results indicate that some aspects of alpha‐2‐adrenoceptor sensitivity are persistently abnormal in alcoholics at least 5 weeks into abstinence.