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Alcohol Effects on Naltrexone-Induced Stimulation of Pituitary, Adrenal, and Gonadal Hormones During the Early Follicular Phase of the Menstrual Cycle^*

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Harvard Medical School-McLean Hospital Belmont, Massachusetts 02178

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Jack H. Mendelson, M.D., Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178.

Chronic alcohol abuse in women is associated with severe derangements of menstrual cycle regularity. However, acute alcohol ingestion has no effect on pituitary-gonadal secretory function. The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute alcohol ingestion altered the effects of naltrexone, a long-acting opioid antagonist, on pituitary, adrenal, and gonadal hormones in normal women. Fourteen women were studied during the early follicular phase (between days 2 and 4) of their menstrual cycle. Plasma LH, PRL, estradiol, progesterone, and cortisol concentrations were measured before and after administration of 50 mg naltrexone, orally, and alcohol or placebo solution given 1 h after naltrexone, under double blind conditions. Naltrexone significantly increased mean plasma LH (P = 0.02), PRL (P = 0.003), E₂ (P < 0.03), and cortisol (P < 0.001) levels. Alcohol significantly augmented the naltrexone-stimulated increases in plasma LH (P = 0.006), estradiol (P < 0.004), and cortisol (P < 0.001) levels and significantly decreased plasma progesterone levels (P = 0.001). Plasma PRL increased (P = 0.001) to the same extent after naltrexone and alcohol ingestion or naltrexone and placebo. We conclude that alcohol enhances naltrexone-induced increases in plasma gonadotropins and adrenal and gonadal steroid hormones in women during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle.

^* This work was supported in part by NIAAA Grants AA-06252 and AA-04368 and NIDA Grants DA-00101, DA-00064, and DA-04059.

Received August 24, 1987.

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