Hormonal, Psychological, and Alcohol Craving Changes after m-Chlorophenylpiperazine Administration in Alcoholics

• Published in: Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 220 - 227
• Main Authors: Buydens-Branchey, L., Branchey, M., Fergeson, P., Hudson, J., McKernin, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.1997; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• Subjects: "High" Feeling; Adult; Alcoholics; Alcoholism - physiopathology; Alcoholism - psychology; Alcoholism - rehabilitation; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Biological and medical sciences; Cortisol; Double-Blind Method; Ethanol - adverse effects; Euphoria - drug effects; Euphoria - physiology; Humans; Hydrocortisone - blood; m-CPP Challenge; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Motivation; Personality Assessment; Piperazines - pharmacology; Prolactin; Prolactin - blood; Serotonin - physiology; Serotonin Receptor Agonists - pharmacology; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - diagnosis; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; Toxicology; Human; Protein hormone; Adenohypophyseal hormone; Pathophysiology; Serotonin; Prolactin; Alcoholism; Craving
• ISSN: 0145-6008; 1530-0277
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1997.tb03753.x

To assess the serotonergic function of alcoholics, their neuroendocrine and psychological responsivities to the serotonergic partial agonist meta‐chlorophenylpiperazine (m‐CPP) was compared with the responsitivity of healthy subjects. The effect of m‐CPP on craving for alcohol was also assessed in the alcoholics. Sixteen patients and 14 controls were tested under double‐blind, placebo‐controlled conditions. m‐CPP (0.5 mg/kg of body weight) was given orally. Alcoholics were tested after a period of abstinence of 15 to 39 days. The two groups of subjects did not differ in their cortisol response to m‐CPP, but the prolactin response of alcoholics was significantly blunted. Alcoholics reported a significantly more intense “high” feeling after m‐CPP than the healthy subjects. m‐CPP induced also a decreased craving for alcohol. Our data thus provide further evidence for the existence of a serotonergic dysfunction in alcoholics and a modulation of craving for alcohol by serotonergic systems.