Dataset Information

Sex differences in neural responses to stress and drug cues predicts future drug use in individuals with substance use disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are chronically recurring illnesses, where stress and drug cues significantly increase drug craving and risk of drug use recurrence. This study examined sex differences in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain responses to stress and drug cue exposure and assessed their prospective association with future drug use post-treatment.

Methods

Inpatient, treatment engaged men (N = 46) and women (N = 26) with SUDs, including alcohol, cocaine and/or cannabis use disorders, participated in an fMRI scan that assessed subjective (anxiety, drug craving), heart rate and neural responses to brief individualized script-driven imagery of stress, drug, and neutral-relaxing trials. Prospective follow-up interviews post-treatment assessed future drug use recurrence over 90 days.

Results

During fMRI, stress and drug versus neutral cue exposure led to increased anxiety, heart rate and craving responses (p's < 0.004) in both men and women, but greater drug cue-induced anxiety (p < .017) and higher drug use days during follow-up (p < .006) in women relative to men. In whole brain analyses of stress and drug cues (p < .05 FWE corrected), and in whole brain correlation (p < .05, FWE corrected) with drug use days, significant sex differences revealed drug cue-related striatal hyperactivation (caudate, putamen) in men, but drug cue-related cortico-limbic (insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) hypoactivation and stress-related hypoactivation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VmPFC) in women; and these were significantly associated with higher future drug use days.

Conclusions

Findings indicate sex-specific pathophysiology of SUD recurrence and support the need for differential treatment development for men and women with SUD to improve drug use outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Smith K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10024802 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Sex differences in neural responses to stress and drug cues predicts future drug use in individuals with substance use disorder.

Smith Keisha K Lacadie Cheryl M CM Milivojevic Verica V Fogelman Nia N Sinha Rajita R

Drug and alcohol dependence 20230203

<h4>Background</h4>Substance use disorders (SUDs) are chronically recurring illnesses, where stress and drug cues significantly increase drug craving and risk of drug use recurrence. This study examined sex differences in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain responses to stress and drug cue exposure and assessed their prospective association with future drug use post-treatment.<h4>Methods</h4>Inpatient, treatment engaged men (N = 46) and women (N = 26) with SUDs, including alcohol, ...[more]

PMID: 36758371

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Project description:BackgroundSubstance use is prevalent among emergency department (ED) patients, and sex has been implicated as an important factor in the etiology, pathophysiology, sequelae, and treatment of substance use disorders. However, additional information is needed about the epidemiology of substance use as it relates to sex among ED patients.ObjectivesThis study examined sex differences in the prevalence and severity of self-reported tobacco, alcohol, and drug use among adult ED patients.MethodsA random sample of English- or Spanish-speaking, non-critically ill or injured, 18- to 64-year-old patients was approached at two urban EDs and asked to self-report their lifetime and past 3-month tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Participants completed the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) using an audio computer-assisted self-interview. Participants were categorized by their substance severity (ASSIST score) and need for a brief or more intensive intervention per World Health Organization recommendations. Substance misuse prevalence, frequency, severity, and need for interventions were compared between sexes by substance category. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association between sexes and the need for intervention after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics.ResultsOf the 6,432 participants in the study, the median age was 37 years (interquartile range = 26 to 48 years), and 56.6% were female. Overall, lifetime, and past 3-month use was higher for men across all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and drugs). Among those reporting past 3-month use, the frequency of use was similar between sexes for tobacco and all drugs, but men reported more frequent alcohol use. Men had higher mean ASSIST scores compared to women, 30.3 (standard error [SE] ± 0.8) vs. 21.1 (SE ± 0.5); mean difference 9.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.4 to 10.9). The need for any intervention (brief or intensive) was similar between sexes for tobacco and drugs. After sociodemographic factors were adjusted for, women were less likely than men to need any intervention for alcohol (odds ratio [OR] = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4 to 0.8), but not other substances: tobacco (OR = 0.9; 95% CI = 0.6 to 1.3), marijuana (OR = 0.8; 95% CI = 0.6 to 1.1), or other drugs (OR = 1.1; 95% CI = 0.7 to 1.7).ConclusionsAlthough men have a higher overall prevalence of substance use, the frequency and severity of use were similar for men and women for most substances. After other characteristics were adjusted for, sex appears associated with the need for interventions for alcohol, but not tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs.

Dataset Information

Sex differences in neural responses to stress and drug cues predicts future drug use in individuals with substance use disorder.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Sex differences in neural responses to stress and drug cues predicts future drug use in individuals with substance use disorder.

Similar Datasets

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