Abstract
In 20 hospitalized male chronic alcoholic patients, plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) levels were estimated by radioimmunoassay and cortisol levels by the competitive protein binding (CPB) method with radioactive selenium-75 on admission and during abstinence along with rating of the degree of depression immediately after the acute phase of the ethanol withdrawal syndrome was over. Duration of drinking ranged from 5 to 25 years and average daily ethanol intake was between 100 and 150 g. Plasma ACTH levels were found to be raised in drinking chronic alcoholics. There was a positive and statistically significant correlation between depression ratings and plasma ACTH concentrations ( r = + 0.379; P < 0.05). In chronic alcoholism the negative feedback mechanism seems to be disturbed between plasma ACTH and cortisol levels which are not normalised after 1 week of total abstinence. Chronic ethanol ingestion might have a direct stimulatory effect on the adrenal cortex leading to dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.
Published Version
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