Response of Three Hormones to Diazepam Challenge in Sons of Alcoholics and Controls

Abstract

This study evaluates the hypothesis that the decreased reaction to ethanol reported for sons of alcoholics will also be observed following infusions of a benzodiazepine. the investigation compared 37 men who were family history positive for alcoholism with 37 family history negative controls on postinfusion levels of cortisol, prolactin, and growth hormone following 0.12 and 0.20 mg/kg of diazepam given IV over 7 minutes. the results demonstrated no evidence of a decreased response for the sons of alcoholics on the levels of these three hormones.UNIV CALIF SAN DIEGO,SCH MED,LA JOLLA,CA 92093ESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,BR-04023 São Paulo,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,BR-04023 São Paulo,BRAZILWeb of Scienc