Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine showed that the hormone estrogen regulates alcohol consumption in women, causing them to “pregame” or binge. The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrates that circulating estrogen increases alcohol consumption in women and exacerbates known sex differences in this behavior.
“We know very little about what causes alcohol-drinking behavior in women because most studies of alcohol use have focused on men,” said senior author Dr. Kristen Pleil, associate professor of pharmacology at the university. have been done.”
Yet recent studies have shown that women have consumed more alcohol than men. This abuse is likely to make them more susceptible to the harmful health effects of alcohol than men, Pleyel said.
“Many studies have shown that this pattern of drinking increases the harmful effects of alcohol,” said the expert, adding that these findings were consistent in women. may lead to new approaches to treating alcohol use disorders.
To assess the possible involvement of estrogen, the team first monitored the levels of the hormone during the female mice’s estrous cycle (similar to menstruation in women) and then gave them alcohol.
The results show that high levels of circulating estrogen in women make them drink more than on days when their estrogen is low. This heightened behavior is reflected by increased activity in the same neurons in the BNST – a brain structure involved in processing reward, stress and anxiety.
“When a woman takes her first sip from a wine bottle, those neurons go crazy. And if she’s in a high-estrogen state, they go even crazier,” explains Pullel. The additional increase in activity meant that the rats hit the bottle even harder, especially within the first 30 minutes of alcohol being available.