Alcohol Craving and Severity are Associated with Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Choline Levels in Individuals with an Alcohol Use Disorder.

AIMS: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been used to probe inflammation in the brain. While altered MRS metabolite levels have previously been found in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), the relationship between potential metabolite markers of inflammation and the clinical correlates of AUD remains understudied. Therefore, this exploratory study sought to elucidate the clinical significance of inflammation in AUD by examining relationships between metabolites, AUD severity, alcohol consumption, and craving in individuals with AUD. METHODS: Data for this secondary analysis are derived from a two-week clinical trial of ibudilast to treat AUD. Forty-three non-treatment-seeking individuals with an AUD (26M/17F) completed an MRS scan and alcohol-related questionnaires. MRS was performed using a multi-voxel array placed above the corpus callosum, extending from the pregnenual anterior cingulate to premotor cortex. The dorsal anterior cingulate was selected as the volume of interest. Metabolite levels of choline-compounds (Cho), myo-inositol (mI), and creatine+phosphocreatine (Cr) were quantified. Separate hierarchical regression models were used to evaluate the independent effects of metabolite levels on alcohol craving, alcohol problem severity, and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Dorsal anterior cingulate Cho predicted alcohol craving and alcohol problem severity over and above demographics, medication, and alcohol consumption measures. mI and Cr did not predict alcohol craving or alcohol problem severity. Metabolite markers were not predictive of alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study indicates that dACC Cho is sensitive to clinical characteristics of AUD. This is a further step in advancing neurometabolites, particularly Cho, as potential biomarkers and treatment targets for AUD.

Baseline C-reactive protein levels are predictive of treatment response to a neuroimmune modulator in individuals with an alcohol use disorder: a preliminary study.

Background: Inflammation is implicated in alcohol use disorder (AUD). Ibudilast, a neuroimmune modulator, shows promise for the treatment of AUD. Elevated inflammation, indicated by high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), represents a possible subtype of AUD, which may be associated with treatment response to ibudilast.Objectives: The current study evaluated CRP as a predictor of treatment response to ibudilast; hypothesizing that ibudilast would be more effective at reducing drinking and alcohol cue-reactivity in individuals with higher CRP levels.Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a clinical trial of ibudilast for AUD, which found that ibudilast reduced heavy drinking in individuals with AUD. Fifty-one individuals were randomized to receive ibudilast (n = 24 [16 M/8F]) or placebo (n = 27 [18 M/9F]) for two weeks. Participants provided blood samples at baseline to assess CRP levels, completed daily assessments of alcohol use, and an fMRI alcohol cue-reactivity task at study mid-point. Models tested the effects of medication, CRP levels, and their interaction on drinks per drinking day and alcohol cue-reactivity.Results: There was a significant interaction between medication and CRP (F = 3.80, p = .03), such that the ibudilast high CRP group had fewer drinks per drinking day compared to the ibudilast low CRP group. CRP moderated the effect of medication on brain activation in a cluster extending from the left inferior frontal gyrus to the right-dorsal striatum (Z = 4.55, p < .001). This interaction was driven by attenuated cue-reactivity in the ibudilast high CRP group relative to the ibudilast low CRP and placebo high CRP groups.Conclusions: This study serves as an initial investigation into predictors of clinical response to ibudilast treatment and suggests that a baseline proinflammatory profile may enhance clinical efficacy.

Pain Catastrophizing Is Associated With Increased Alcohol Cue-Elicited Neural Activity Among Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder.

AIMS: The current study examined the association between pain catastrophizing and alcohol cue-elicited brain activation in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). METHODS: Non-treatment seeking heavy drinkers with AUD (n = 45; 28 males) completed self-report measures of pain catastrophizing and alcohol use/problems as part of a clinical trial of the neuroimmune modulator ibudilast. Participants were randomized to either placebo (n = 25) or ibudilast (n = 20) and completed an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan to assess neural activation to alcohol cues 1 week into the medication trial. Multiple linear regression examined whether pain catastrophizing predicted cue-induced activation in a priori regions of interest, namely the dorsal and ventral striatum (VS). An exploratory whole-brain analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between pain catastrophizing and neural alcohol cue reactivity. RESULTS: Pain catastrophizing predicted greater cue-induced activation in the dorsal (b = 0.006; P = 0.03) but not VS controlling for medication. Pain catastrophizing was positively associated with neural activation to alcohol cues in regions including the bilateral thalamus, left precuneus and left frontal pole. CONCLUSION: Greater pain catastrophizing is associated with greater cue-induced neural activation in brain regions sub-serving habits and compulsive alcohol use. These findings provide initial support for a neural mechanism by which pain catastrophizing may drive alcohol craving among individuals with AUD.

Effects of ibudilast on central and peripheral markers of inflammation in alcohol use disorder: A randomized clinical trial.

Ibudilast, a neuroimmune modulator, shows promise as a pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD). In vivo administration of ibudilast reduces the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in animal models, but its effects on markers of inflammation in humans are unknown. This preliminary study examined the effect of ibudilast on peripheral and potential central markers of inflammation in individuals with AUD. This study also explored the predictive relationship of neurometabolite markers with subsequent drinking in the trial. Non-treatment-seeking individuals with an AUD (n = 52) were randomized to receive oral ibudilast (n = 24) or placebo (n = 28) for 2 weeks. Plasma levels of peripheral inflammatory markers were measured at baseline and after 1 and 2 weeks of medication. At study mid-point, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed to measure potential neurometabolite markers of inflammation: choline-compounds (Cho), myo-inositol (MI) and creatine + phosphocreatine (Cr) in frontal and cingulate cortices from 43 participants (ibudilast: n = 20; placebo: n = 23). The treatment groups were compared on peripheral and central markers. Ibudilast-treated participants had lower Cho in superior frontal white matter and nominally lower MI in pregenual anterior cingulate cortex. Ibudilast-treated participants had nominally lower C-reactive protein levels at visit 2 and nominally lower TNF-α/IL-10 ratios, relative to placebo. C-reactive protein and Cho levels were correlated, controlling for medication. Superior frontal white matter Cho predicted drinking in the following week. Micro-longitudinal ibudilast treatment may induce peripheral and putative central anti-inflammatory responses in patients with AUD. The neurometabolite responses may be associated with reduction in drinking, suggesting an anti-inflammatory component to the therapeutic action of ibudilast.

Immune treatments for alcohol use disorder: A translational framework.

While the immune system is essential for survival, an excessive or prolonged inflammatory response, such as that resulting from sustained heavy alcohol use, can damage the host and contribute to psychiatric disorders. A growing body of literature indicates that the immune system plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder (AUD). As such, there is enthusiasm for treatments that can restore healthy levels of inflammation as a mechanism to reduce drinking and promote recovery. In this qualitative literature review, we provide a conceptual rationale for immune therapies and discuss progress in medications development for AUD focused on the immune system as a treatment target. This review is organized into sections based on primary signaling pathways targeted by the candidate therapies, namely: (a) toll-like receptors, (b) phosphodiesterase inhibitors, (c) peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, (d) microglia and astrocytes, (e) other immune pharmacotherapies, and (f) behavioral therapies. As relevant within each section, we examine the basic biological mechanisms of each class of therapy and evaluate preclinical research testing the role of the therapy on mitigating alcohol-related behaviors in animal models. To the extent available, translational findings are reviewed with discussion of completed and ongoing randomized clinical trials and their findings to date. An applied and clinically focused approach is taken to identify the potential clinical applications of the various treatments reviewed. We conclude by delineating the most promising candidate treatments and discussing future directions by considering opportunities for immune treatment development and personalized medicine for AUD.

Ibudilast attenuates alcohol cue-elicited frontostriatal functional connectivity in alcohol use disorder.

BACKGROUND: Ibudilast, a novel neuroimmune modulator being studied to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD), was shown in a randomized controlled trial (NCT03489850) to reduce ventral striatum (VS) activation in response to visual alcohol cues. The present study extended this finding by probing the effects of ibudilast on alcohol cue-elicited functional connectivity (i.e., temporally correlated activation) with the VS seed. The study also tests the association between functional connectivity and alcohol use during the trial. METHODS: Non-treatment-seeking participants (n = 45) with current alcohol use disorder were randomized to receive twice-daily dosing with either ibudilast (50 mg; n = 20) or placebo (n = 25). Upon reaching the target dosagee of the medication or placebo, participants completed a functional neuroimaging alcohol cue reactivity paradigm. Drinks per drinking day were assessed at baseline and daily during the 2-week trial. RESULTS: Ibudilast reduced alcohol cue-elicited functional connectivity between the VS seed and reward-processing regions including the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortices compared with placebo (p < 0.05). Cue-elicited functional connectivity was correlated with drinks per drinking day (R2  = 0.5351, p < 0.001), and ibudilast reduced this association in similar reward-processing regions compared with placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Ibudilast's effects on drinking outcomes may be related to the attenuation of functional connectivity in frontostriatal circuits related to reward processing. These results provide an important proof of concept for this novel pharmacotherapy and support the clinical utility of incorporating neuroimaging-and especially functional connectivity-analyses into medication development.

Clinical and Neural Correlates of Reward and Relief Drinking.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is heterogenous. One approach to parsing this heterogeneity is to phenotype individuals by their underlying motivation to drink, specifically drinking for reward (i.e., positive reinforcement) or for relief (i.e., negative reinforcement/normalizing). Reward- versus relief-motivated behavior is thought to be associated with a shift from ventral to dorsal striatal (DS) signaling. The present study examined whether reward and relief drinking were differentially associated with other clinical characteristics and with alcohol cue-elicited activation of the ventral and dorsal striatum. METHODS: Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers (N = 184; 61 female, 123 male) completed the UCLA Reward, Relief, Habit Drinking Scale (RRHDS) and the Reasons for Heavy Drinking Questionnaire (RHDQ), to categorize drinking motivation. Measures of alcohol use, alcohol problems, mood, and craving were also collected. A subset of participants (N = 45; 17 female, 28 male) also completed a functional neuroimaging alcohol cue reactivity task. RESULTS: RRHDS-designated relief/habit drinkers scored lower than reward drinkers on the RHDQ Reinforcement subscale (p = 0.04) and higher on the RHDQ Normalizing subscale (p = 0.004). Relief/habit drinkers also demonstrated greater AUD severity on a host of clinical measures. Relief/habit drinkers displayed higher cue-elicited DS activation compared with reward drinkers (p = 0.04), while ventral striatal cue-elicited activation did not significantly differ between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support and extend the differentiation of reward from relief/habit-motivated drinking and suggest that differences in DS response to conditioned alcohol cues may underlie this distinction. Elucidating neurobiological and clinical differences between these subtypes may facilitate treatment matching and precision medicine for AUD.

Endotoxin for Alcohol Research: A Call for Experimental Medicine Using Lipopolysaccharide Challenge.

Studies of inflammation in alcohol use disorder (AUD) are overwhelmingly preclinical, and translation to clinical samples is necessary. Endotoxin administration has been used successfully in humans to study mood disorders, offering a translational, reliable and safe model that may be validated in AUD research. We argue for the use of endotoxin challenge to elucidate the interplay between AUD and inflammation.

Baseline Drinking Patterns in Non-Treatment Seeking Problem Drinkers.

AIMS: Natural processes of change have been documented in treatment-seekers who begin to reduce their drinking in anticipation of treatment. The study examined whether non-treatment-seeking problem drinkers would engage in drinking reduction in anticipation of participating in a research study. METHODS: Non-treatment-seeking problem drinkers (n = 935) were culled from five behavioral pharmacology studies. Participants reported on their alcohol use during the past 30 days using the Timeline Followback. Cluster analysis identified distinct groups/clusters based on drinking patterns over the 30-day pre-visit period. The identified clusters were compared on demographic and clinical measures. RESULTS: Three distinct clusters were identified (a) heavy-decreasing drinking group (n = 255, 27.27%); (b) a moderate-stable drinking group (n = 353, 37.75%) and (c) low-stable drinking group (n = 327, 34.97%). The three clusters differed significantly on a host of measures including pre-visit drinking (age at first drink, drinking days, drinks per week, drinks per drinking day), alcohol use severity, alcohol craving, readiness for change, depression and anxiety levels. These differences were alcohol dose-dependent such that the heavier drinking group reported the highest levels on all constructs, followed by the moderate group, and the low drinking group last. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline drinking patterns of non-treatment-seekers were generally stable and pre-visit reductions were only observed among the heavy drinking group. This generally stable pattern stands in contrast to previous reports for treatment-seeking samples. Nevertheless, the heavier drinking group, which is most similar to treatment-seekers, displayed pre-study drinking reduction. Overall, naturalistic processes of change may pose less of a threat to randomization and testing in this population.

Alcohol Cue-Induced Ventral Striatum Activity Predicts Subsequent Alcohol Self-Administration.

BACKGROUND: Human laboratory paradigms are a pillar in medication development for alcohol use disorders (AUD). Neuroimaging paradigms, in which individuals are exposed to cues that elicit neural correlates of alcohol craving (e.g., mesocorticolimbic activation), are increasingly utilized to test the effects of AUD medications. Elucidation of the translational effects of these neuroimaging paradigms on human laboratory paradigms, such as self-administration, is warranted. The current study is a secondary analysis examining whether alcohol cue-induced activation in the ventral striatum is predictive of subsequent alcohol self-administration in the laboratory. METHODS: Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers of East Asian descent (n = 41) completed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover experiment on the effects of naltrexone on neuroimaging and human laboratory paradigms. Participants completed 5 days of study medication (or placebo); on day 4, they completed a neuroimaging alcohol taste cue-reactivity task. On the following day (day 5), participants completed a 60-minute alcohol self-administration paradigm. RESULTS: Multilevel Cox regressions indicated a significant effect of taste cue-elicited ventral striatum activation on latency to first drink, Wald χ2  = 2.88, p = 0.05, such that those with higher ventral striatum activation exhibited shorter latencies to consume their first drink. Similarly, ventral striatum activation was positively associated with total number of drinks consumed, F(1, 38) = 5.90, p = 0.02. These effects were significant after controlling for alcohol use severity, OPRM1 genotype, and medication. Other potential regions of interest (anterior cingulate, thalamus) were not predictive of self-administration outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroimaging alcohol taste cue paradigms may be predictive of laboratory paradigms such as self-administration. Elucidation of the relationships among different paradigms will inform how these paradigms may be used synergistically in experimental medicine and medication development.

The gut microbiome in alcohol use disorder and alcohol-associated liver disease: A systematic review of clinical studies.

Evidence suggests that a relationship exists between the gut microbiome and the pathogenesis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-associated liver disease (AALD). This systematic review identified studies that investigated the gut microbiome in individuals with an AUD or an AALD. A search was conducted on October 27, 2022, in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases. Fifty studies satisfied eligibility criteria. Most studies found evidence for gut dysbiosis in individuals with AUD and AALD. Microbiome intervention studies have mostly been conducted in AALD patients; fecal microbial transplant interventions show the most promise. Because most studies were conducted cross-sectionally, the causal relationship between the gut microbiome and alcohol use is unknown. Furthermore, almost all studies have been conducted in predominantly male populations, leaving critical questions regarding sex differences and generalizability of the findings. The study summaries and recommendations provided in this review seek to identify areas for further research and to highlight potential gut microbial interventions for treating AUD and AALD.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with enhanced sensitivity to cellular lipopolysaccharide challenge.

BACKGROUND: Inflammation has been associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD). A novel method to characterize AUD-related immune signaling involves probing Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 stimulated monocyte production of intracellular cytokines (ICCs) via lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We evaluated relationships between AUD and ICC production at rest and after LPS stimulation. METHODS: We analyzed blood samples from 36 participants (AUD N = 14; Controls N = 22), collected across time, with ICC expression assessed at rest (i.e., unstimulated) and following stimulation with LPS (i.e., a total of 5 repeated unstimulated or stimulated measures/participant). Markers assessed included tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), TNF-α and IL-6 co-expression, and interferon (IFN). For each marker, we constructed linear mixed models with AUD, LPS, and timepoint as fixed effects (BMI as covariate), allowing for random slope and intercept. AUD × LPS was included as an interaction. RESULTS: For TLR4-stimulated monocyte production of TNF-α, there were effects of AUD (p < 0.01), LPS (p < 0.001), and AUD × LPS interaction (p < 0.05), indicating that individuals with AUD showed greater unstimulated- and stimulated monocyte expression of TNF-α. Similarly, for TLR4-stimulated monocyte co-expression of TNF-α and IL-6, there were effects of AUD (p < 0.01), LPS (p < 0.001), and AUD × LPS interaction (p < 0.05). No AUD or LPS effects were found for IL-6. Timepoint effects were observed on IL-6 and TNF-α/IL-6 co-expression (p < 0.001). Finally, for IFN there were also effects of AUD (p < 0.05), LPS (p < 0.001), and AUD × LPS (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with AUD showed greater resting or unstimulated levels of intracellular monocyte expression of TNF-α and IL-6/TNF-α co-expression than controls. AUD was associated with increases in TLR4-stimulated monocyte production of TNF-α and co-production of IL-6 and TNF-α. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to investigate relationships between AUD and monocyte production of proinflammatory cytokines, at rest and in response to TLR4 stimulation with LPS. The study extends previous findings on the roles of proinflammatory cytokines in AUD and serves as a critical proof of concept for the use of this method to probe neuroimmune mechanisms underlying AUD.

Are medication effects on subjective response to alcohol and cue-induced craving associated? A meta regression study.

RATIONALE: Alcohol administration and cue-reactivity paradigms are frequently used to screen for the initial efficacy of medications for alcohol use disorder (AUD). While medication effects on the primary outcomes for these paradigms are assumed to be qualitatively related, there is a critical lack of quantitative evidence to support this hypothesis. OBJECTIVES: The study aims to test the relationship between medication effect sizes on subjective response to alcohol administration and medication effect sizes for cue-induced craving to cue exposure, using meta-analysis. METHODS: Systematic literature searches were conducted to identify randomized trials, wherein AUD medications were tested using the alcohol administration and/or cue-reactivity paradigms. From these studies, descriptive statistics were collected to compute medication effect sizes on the primary outcomes for each respective paradigm. With medication as the unit of analysis, medication effect sizes in alcohol administration studies were compared with medication effect sizes in cue-reactivity studies using the Williamson-York regression which allows for meta-regression across independent samples. RESULTS: Medication effect sizes on alcohol-induced stimulation and alcohol-induced craving were not significantly associated with medication effect sizes on cue-induced alcohol craving (k stimulation = 10 medications, [Formula: see text] and k craving = 11 medications, [Formula: see text] (SE = 0.237), [Formula: see text]), respectively. Medication effect sizes on alcohol-induced sedation were significantly associated with medication effects on cue-induced craving (k = 10 medications, [Formula: see text] (SE = 0.258), [Formula: see text]), such that medications that increased alcohol-induced sedation were more likely to reduce cue-induced alcohol craving. CONCLUSIONS: With the exception of alcohol-induced sedation, there is little quantitative evidence of medication effects on subjective response domains measured during alcohol administration parallel medication effects on cue-induced alcohol craving. To provide additional context to the current study, future work should examine whether cue-reactivity findings predict clinical trial outcomes.

Testing pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorder with cue exposure paradigms: A systematic review and quantitative synthesis of human laboratory trial methodology.

Alcohol cue exposure is a widely used experimental paradigm for screening pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Medication-related reductions in cue-reactivity signal early efficacy and inform medications development. Yet, across trials, the design of cue exposure, parameter testing, and outcome reporting is heterogeneous. This systematic review is a quantitative synthesis of trial methodologies and effect size estimation for AUD medication-related craving and psychophysiological outcomes under the cue exposure paradigm. A PubMed search was conducted on January 3, 2022 based on identified pharmacotherapies for peer-reviewed articles reported in English. Study-level characteristics, including sample descriptors, paradigm design, analytic approach, and Cochrane Risk of Bias, along with descriptive statistics for cue-exposure outcomes, were coded by two independent raters. Study-level effect sizes were estimated for craving and psychophysiological outcomes separately and sample-level effect sizes were calculated for each medication. Thirty-six trials, comprising 1640 participants and testing 19 different medications satisfied eligibility criteria. All studies reported on biological sex (71% male participants on average). The exposure paradigms implemented used in vivo (n = 26), visual (n = 8), and audio script (n = 2) cues. Some trials included means for craving by medication condition in text (k = 7) or figures (k = 18). The quantitative synthesis included 63 effect sizes (craving kes = 47; psychophysiological kes = 16) from 28 unique randomized trials testing 15 medications for effects on cue reactivity. For cue-induced craving, eight medications (kes range: 1-12) demonstrated small-to-medium effects (Cohen's d range: |0.24-0.64|) compared to placebo, with individuals randomized to receive medication reporting lower craving following cue exposure. Recommendations are provided to promote further consilience, so that the utility of cue exposure paradigms can be maximized in the development of effective AUD pharmacotherapies. Future work should explore the predictive utility of medication-related reductions in cue-reactivity on clinical outcomes.

Additive roles of tobacco and cannabis co-use in relation to delay discounting in a sample of heavy drinkers.

RATIONALE: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with steeper delay discounting rates; however, it is unknown whether substance co-use, particularly cannabis use, has an additive effect on discounting rates among heavy drinkers. Furthermore, it is unclear whether substance co-use and delay discounting are independently associated with AUD severity. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis co-use impacts delay discounting rates. We also sought to determine whether substance co-use and delay discounting were associated with AUD symptom counts. METHODS: The study sample was culled from several human laboratory studies and consisted of 483 heavy drinking individuals who completed a baseline visit (prior to experimental procedures). Participants were divided into groups based on self-reported alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use during the past 30 days: alcohol only (n = 184), alcohol + cigarettes (n = 89), alcohol + cannabis (n = 82), and tri-use (n = 128). We examined discounting rates across the 4 groups and used multiple linear regression to test whether co-use and delay discounting were associated with AUD symptoms. RESULTS: After adjusting for covariates, individuals in the alcohol + cannabis group and the tri-use group had steeper discounting rates relative to the alcohol-only group. In addition, tri-use and delay discounting rates were independently correlated with a greater number of AUD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Delay discounting rates were significantly greater among subgroups reporting cannabis use providing partial support for an additive effect, while also highlighting the importance of co-use substance type. Both tri-use and delay discounting were associated with greater AUD severity, which may provide relevant intervention targets.

Novel Agents for the Pharmacological Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent but severely under-treated disorder, with only three widely-approved pharmacotherapies. Given that AUD is a very heterogeneous disorder, it is unlikely that one single medication will be effective for all individuals with an AUD. As such, there is a need to develop new, more effective, and diverse pharmacological treatment options for AUD with the hopes of increasing utilization and improving care. In this qualitative literature review, we discuss the efficacy, mechanism of action, and tolerability of approved, repurposed, and novel pharmacotherapies for the treatment of AUD with a clinical perspective. Pharmacotherapies discussed include: disulfiram, acamprosate, naltrexone, nalmefene, topiramate, gabapentin, varenicline, baclofen, sodium oxybate, aripiprazole, ondansetron, mifepristone, ibudilast, suvorexant, prazosin, doxazosin, N-acetylcysteine, GET73, ASP8062, ABT-436, PF-5190457, and cannabidiol. Overall, many repurposed and novel agents discussed in this review demonstrate clinical effectiveness and promise for the future of AUD treatment. Importantly, these medications also offer potential improvements towards the advancement of precision medicine and personalized treatment for the heterogeneous AUD population. However, there remains a great need to improve access to treatment, increase the menu of approved pharmacological treatments, and de-stigmatize and increase treatment-seeking for AUD.

Effect of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis co-use on gray matter volume in heavy drinkers.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis are the three most frequently used drugs in the United States and co-use is common. Alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use has been separately associated with altered brain structure, and alcohol and tobacco co-use results in decreases in gray matter volume. Less is known about the effect of alcohol and cannabis co-use, and alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis tri-use. Therefore, this study examined the effect of co- and tri-use on gray matter volume, a measure of brain cell density, in heavy drinkers. METHOD: Heavy drinkers (n = 237; 152m/85f; age = 32.52; white = 111; black = 28; Latino = 9; American Indian = 2; Pacific Islander = 4; Asian = 59; mixed = 15; other = 9) were classified into four groups based on their alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use: alcohol only users (n = 70), alcohol and tobacco co-users (n = 90), alcohol and cannabis co-users (n = 35), and alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis tri-users (n = 42). All participants completed a structural MRI scan. Voxel-based morphometry was conducted to evaluate the effect of co-use on gray matter volume, with alcohol only users as the reference group. Age, sex, and scanner were included as covariates. RESULTS: Alcohol and tobacco co-users had significantly decreased left orbitofrontal gray matter volume relative to alcohol only users (Cohen's d = .79). There were no differences in gray matter volume between the alcohol only and alcohol and cannabis co-users, or between the alcohol only and tri-user groups. CONCLUSION: The additive effect of tobacco co-use on gray matter volumes in heavy drinkers was limited and localized. The effect of tri-use of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis may have interacted, such that overlapping cannabis and tobacco use masked volume differences present in separate co-using groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Combined varenicline and naltrexone attenuates alcohol cue-elicited activation in heavy drinking smokers.

BACKGROUND: There is a strong bidirectional relationship between the use of alcohol and cigarettes which results in various challenges for treating those who co-use both substances. While varenicline and naltrexone each have FDA-approval for nicotine and alcohol use disorder, respectively, there is evidence that their clinical benefit may extend across the two disorders. Critically, the effect of combined varenicline and naltrexone on neural reactivity to alcohol cues among heavy drinking smokers has not yet been studied. Probing the effect of the combination therapy on alcohol cue-reactivity may give insight to the mechanisms underlying its efficacy. METHODS: Forty-seven heavy drinking smokers enrolled in two medication studies were randomized to receive varenicline alone (n = 11), varenicline plus naltrexone (n = 11), or placebo (n = 25). Participants completed an fMRI alcohol cue-reactivity task and rated their in-scanner alcohol craving. Whole-brain analyses examined the effect of medication on alcohol cue-elicited neural response. RESULTS: Varenicline plus naltrexone attenuated alcohol cue-elicited activation in mesolimbic regions relative to varenicline alone and to placebo (Z > 2.3, p < 0.05). The combination varenicline and naltrexone group also endorsed lower in-scanner alcohol craving relative to varenicline alone group (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence for the benefit of combined therapy of varenicline and naltrexone over varenicline alone for the attenuation of alcohol cue-elicited neural activation. This study provides a preliminary proof-of-mechanism for this combination pharmacotherapy and suggests that naltrexone may be driving the reductions in cue-elicited alcohol craving in the brain. Further clinical studies using the combined therapy to treat heavy drinking smokers are warranted.

Diminished cortical response to risk and loss during risky decision making in alcohol use disorder.

BACKGROUND: Risky decision-making is an important facet of addiction. Individuals with alcohol dependence show abnormalities in gambling and other risk-taking tasks. In one such measure, the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), participants sequentially choose to pump a virtual balloon to increase potential reward while the risk of explosion increases, or to cash-out and take earnings. In a prior study, alcohol-dependent participants differed from controls in brain activation during decision-making on the BART, but the relationship between risk/reward magnitude and brain activation was not studied, nor were participants compared to controls. Here we compared the degree to which risk and magnitude of reward influenced brain activation in alcohol-dependent participants vs. controls during decision-making on the BART. METHODS: Thirty-two participants (16 alcohol-dependent, 16 control; 5 females/group) performed the BART during fMRI. A parametric analysis tested for a relationship between risk/reward magnitude and activation in rDLPFC and bilateral striatum regions of interest when participants chose to take risk or to cash out. An exploratory whole-brain voxel-wise analysis of mean activation during pumping, cash-out, and explosion events was also conducted. RESULTS: Compared with controls, alcohol-dependent participants displayed less modulation of activation in the rDLPFC when taking risk. Exploratory analyses found that alcohol-dependent participants showed less activation than controls during explosions in a cluster including the insula. No differences were seen in striatal activation. CONCLUSIONS: Insensitivity of the rDLPFC to risk and of the insula to loss may contribute to decision-making deficits in alcohol dependence.

Behavior and Fos activation reveal that male and female rats differentially assess affective valence during CTA learning and expression.

Females are more affected by psychiatric illnesses including eating disorders, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder than males. However, the neural mechanisms mediating these sex differences are poorly understood. Animal models can be useful in exploring such neural mechanisms. Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is a behavioral task that assesses how animals process the competition between associated reinforcing and aversive stimuli in subsequent task performance, a process critical to healthy behavior in many domains. The purpose of the present study was to identify sex differences in this behavior and associated neural responses. We hypothesized that females would value the rewarding stimulus (Boost®) relative to the aversive stimulus (LiCl) more than males in performing CTA. We evaluated behavior (Boost® intake, LiCl-induced behaviors, ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), CTA performance) and Fos activation in relevant brain regions after the acute stimuli [acute Boost® (AB), acute LiCl (AL)] and the context-only task control (COT), Boost® only task (BOT) and Boost®-LiCl task (BLT). Acutely, females drank more Boost® than males but showed similar aversive behaviors after LiCl. Females and males performed CTA similarly. Both sexes produced 55 kHz USVs anticipating BOT and inhibited these calls in the BLT. However, more females emitted both 22 kHz and 55 kHz USVs in the BLT than males: the latter correlated with less CTA. Estrous cycle stage also influenced 55 kHz USVs. Fos responses were similar in males and females after AB or AL. Females engaged the gustatory cortex and ventral tegmental area (VTA) more than males during the BOT and males engaged the amygdala more than females in both the BOT and BLT. Network analysis of correlated Fos responses across brain regions identified two unique networks characterizing the BOT and BLT, in both of which the VTA played a central role. In situ hybridization with RNAscope identified a population of D1-receptor expressing cells in the CeA that responded to Boost® and D2 receptor-expressing cells that responded to LiCl. The present study suggests that males and females differentially process the affective valence of a stimulus to produce the same goal-directed behavior.