An endocannabinoid signal associated with desire for alcohol is suppressed in recently abstinent alcoholics

• Published in: Psychopharmacologia Vol. 205; no. 1; pp. 63 - 72
• Main Authors: Mangieri, Regina A., Hong, Kwang-Ik A., Piomelli, Daniele, Sinha, Rajita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.07.2009; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Alcoholism; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Alcohols - metabolism; Anxiety - blood; Anxiety - etiology; Arachidonic Acids - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cues; Endocannabinoids; Female; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Imagery (Psychotherapy) - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurosciences; Neurotransmitters; Original Investigation; Pain Measurement; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Polyunsaturated Alkamides - blood; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Statistics as Topic; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - blood; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - psychology; Time Factors; Toxicology; Alcohol craving; Addiction; Endocannabinoid; Alcoholism; Anandamide; Alcoholic beverage; Endogenous; Arachidonic acid derivatives; Craving; Endogenous substance; Drug of abuse; Cannabinoid
• ISSN: 0033-3158; 1432-2072
• DOI: 10.1007/s00213-009-1518-3

Background Alcoholics report persistent alcohol craving that is heightened by cognitive cues, stressful situations, and abstinence. The role of endogenous cannabinoids in human alcohol craving—though long suspected—remains elusive. Materials and methods We employed laboratory exposure to stress, alcohol cue, and neutral relaxed situations through guided imagery procedures to evoke alcohol desire and craving in healthy social drinkers ( n  = 11) and in treatment-engaged, recently abstinent alcoholic subjects ( n  = 12) and assessed alcohol craving, heart rate, and changes in circulating endocannabinoid levels. Subjective anxiety was also measured as a manipulation check for the procedures. Results In healthy social drinkers, alcohol cue imagery increased circulating levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide, whereas neutral and stress-related imagery had no such effect. Notably, baseline and response anandamide levels in these subjects were negatively and positively correlated with self-reported alcohol craving scores, respectively. Cue-induced increases in heart rate were also correlated with anandamide responses. By contrast, no imagery-induced anandamide mobilization was observed in alcoholics, whose baseline anandamide levels were markedly reduced compared to healthy drinkers and were uncorrelated to either alcohol craving or heart rate. Conclusions The results suggest that plasma anandamide levels provide a marker of the desire for alcohol in social drinkers, which is suppressed in recently abstinent alcoholics.