New Delhi . A preclinical study conducted on rats revealed on Monday that increased levels of estrogen can make women addicted to alcohol.
The female sex hormone estrogen controls women's tendency to consume alcohol, according to a preclinical study led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, revealed that higher levels of estrogen make women more prone to excessive drinking, and the finding could help explain their behavior.
“We know very little about what drives alcohol drinking behavior in women, because most studies of alcohol use have been done in men,” said senior author Dr. Kristen Pleil, associate professor of pharmacology at the university. “
Yet recent studies show that women consume more alcohol than men. This excessive consumption makes them more vulnerable to the negative health effects of alcohol than men, Pleil said.
The expert said, “Many studies show that the habit of drinking alcohol increases the harmful effects of alcohol.” She said these findings could lead to new ways to treat alcohol use disorder in women.
To assess the possible involvement of estrogen, the team first monitored hormone levels during the oestrous cycle of female mice (similar to the menstrual cycle in women) and then gave them alcohol.
The results showed that higher levels of circulating estrogen in women led them to drink more alcohol than on days when their estrogen was lower.
“When a female takes her first sip from a bottle of wine, her neurons go out of control. If she's in a highestrogen state, they go out of control even more,” said Dr. Kristen Pleil. Based on the study, he said that the effect of additional neural activity was visible on rats. It became clear that when estrogen levels increased, they consumed more alcohol. This trend was especially evident within the first 30 minutes.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.