Stress and consumption of alcohol in humans with a Type 1 family history of alcoholism in an experimental laboratory setting Anna H.V. Söderpalm Gordh ⁎, Sejla Brkic, Bo Söderpalm University of Gothenburg, Sweden abstract article info Article history: Received 10 December 2010 Received in revised form 18 May 2011 Accepted 26 May 2011 Available online 26 June 2011 Keywords: Alcohol consumption Family history of alcoholism Humans Stress Subjective effects Background: This paper investigates how stress interacts with alcohol consumption in subjects with a family history of alcoholism. One mechanism for increases in alcohol intake may be that stress alters the subjective effects produced by the drug. Methods: 58 healthy volunteers, divided into two groups of family history positive (FHP) and two groups of family history negative (FHN) participated in two laboratory sessions, in which they performed in one out of two sessions a stress task. Then subjects were allowed to choose up to six additional drinks of ethanol or placebo depending on which session they were randomly assigned to start with. Results: It was found that FHP subjects increased their consumption of alcohol after stress. Conclusions: It is possible that both stress and alcohol specifically exaggerate the feelings of the reward in the FHP individuals in such way that it may increase the likelihood of consuming more alcohol. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc. 1. Introduction Consumption of drugs results from a complex interaction of direct drug effects and mood/subjective state. One factor that makes both animals and humans vulnerable to drug taking behavior is stress. Several lines of evidence indicate that stress increases both craving and consumption of alcohol and also changes the subjective effects of alcohol and other drugs of abuse (O'Doherty, 1991; Sinha et al., 1999; Söderpalm and de Wit, 2002; de Wit et al., 2003). There is also a large body of literature that suggests that a family history of alcoholism influences drug seeking behavior in humans. The present study is one of a series designed to investigate how stress and family history of alcoholism alter one's response to drugs and how this affects the consumption of alcohol in normal healthy volunteers. There is both preclinical and clinical evidence that a family history of alcoholism can alter the responses to alcohol. Selective breeding of rats has produced stable lines that reliably consume high or low quantities of alcohol (McBride and Li, 1998). These lines of alcohol preferring rats show increased sensitivity to the sedative–hypnotic effects of ethanol and they also develop tolerance to the high dose effects of ethanol (McClearn and Rodgers, 1959; McBride and Li, 1998; Crabbe, 2002). These studies also suggest that severe withdrawal symptoms are associated with a tendency to avoid self-administration of alcohol (Metten et al., 1998; Chester et al., 2002). Human research also suggests that genetic factors exert a strong influence for the development of alcoholism (Cloninger 1988, Merikangas, 1990; Kendler et al., 1992). These studies show a strong relationship between biological vulnerability and alcoholism. Furthermore, human studies have also identified differences in the subjective response to alcohol in subjects differentiated by family history of alcoholism (Newlin and Thomson, 1990; McCaul et al., 1991; Schuckit, 1994; Morzorati et al., 2002; Erblich et al., 2003; Conrod et al., 1997, Söderpalm Gordh and Söderpalm, 2011). There is also human research suggesting that there is no difference in the reinforcing effects of alcohol in alcoholic first degree relatives (de Wit and McCRacken, 1990). The research suggests that subjects with a family history positive (FHP) of alcoholism have different levels of sensitivity to the acute effects of alcohol compared to family history negative (FHN) individuals (Schuckit, 1981). The different levels of sensitivity can make FHP subjects more likely to consume more alcohol. Thus, the differences in subjective effects noted, and further described below, could also be related to a number of milieu-determining factors, rather than genes, related to the family history positivity, for example alcohol intoxication expectancies or common third factors, such as other psychopathology, and more. Stress has regularly been cited as a factor contributing to increased drinking in humans. As mentioned, a number studies show that stress or negative mood states, such as anxiety, increase both craving for alcohol and alcohol consumption. Survey data indicate that people consume more alcohol during and after stressful life events such as a divorce, financial difficulties, or being victim of a crime (Jose et al., Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 99 (2011) 696–703 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Section of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Blå Stråket 15, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden and Beroendekliniken, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Tel.: + 46 31 342 3483; fax: + 46 31 82 81 63. E-mail address: anna.soderpalm@neuro.gu.se (A.H.V.S. Gordh). 0091-3057/$ – see front matter © 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2011.05.028 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pharmbiochembeh