TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Spitta, G.
A1  - Gleich, T.
A1  - Dembler-Stamm, T.
A1  - Butler, Oisin
A1  - Zacharias, Kristin
A1  - Aydin, S.
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Schubert, Florian
A1  - Buchert, Ralph
A1  - Gallinat, Jürgen
A1  - Heinz, A.
T1  - Stressful life events are associated with striatal dopamine receptor availability in alcohol dependence
T2  - Journal of neural transmission
N2  - Stress plays a key role in modulating addictive behavior and can cause relapse following periods of abstinence. Common effects of stress and alcohol on the dopaminergic system have been suggested, although the precise mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigated 20 detoxified alcohol-dependent patients and 19 matched healthy controls and assessed striatal D2/D3 availability using [F-18]-fallypride positron emission tomography and stressful life events. We found a strong association between striatal D2/D3 availability and stress in patients, but not in healthy controls. Interestingly, we found increased D2/D3 receptor availability in patients with higher stress levels. This mirrors complex interactions between stress and alcohol intake in animal studies and emphasizes the importance to investigate stress exposure in neurobiological studies of addiction.
KW  - Stressful life events
KW  - Dopamine D2
KW  - D3 receptor
KW  - Positron emission tomography
KW  - Striatum
KW  - Alcohol dependence
Y1  - 2019
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/48470
SN  - 0300-9564
SN  - 1435-1463
VL  - 126
IS  - 9
SP  - 1127
EP  - 1134
PB  - Springer
CY  - Wien
ER  -