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ABSTRACT: Background
The female sex hormones estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) galvanize the ventral striatal reward pathway. E elevates ventral striatal dopamine and accelerates drug-cued reinstatement, while P has opposing 'protective' effects on drug-related behavior. We hypothesize that women may exhibit greater ventral striatal responses to smoking cues (SCs) during the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (MC) when E is high and unimpeded by P, and reduced responses during the late luteal phase when P is high.Methods
To test our hypothesis, 24 naturally cycling cigarette-dependent women completed functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) sessions over the course of 3 MCs at select time points to reflect the early follicular (low E and P; LEP, control condition), late follicular (high E, low P; HE) and mid-luteal (high E, high P; HEP) MC phases. During fMRI sessions (counterbalanced by phase), women were exposed to a SC versus nonSC audio-visual clip. Ovulation was verified for each MC, and hormone levels were acquired prior to sessions.Results
Contrasts within conditions showed that ventral striatal brain responses to SCs versus nonSCs were negligible during LEP and greater during HE (p=0.009) and HP (p=0.016). Contrasts across conditions showed that HE and HEP had greater responses than LEP (p=0.005), and HE had greater responses than HEP (p=0.049).Conclusions
Results support and extend our retrospective cross-sectional study of the influence of the hormonal milieu on SC reactivity. Results are clinically relevant as they may guide novel, hormonally-informed and immediately translatable treatment strategies that can potentially reduce relapse in naturally cycling women.
SUBMITTER: Franklin TR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9948852 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Franklin Teresa R TR Spilka Nathaniel H NH Keyser Heather H Maron Melanie M Jagannathan Kanchana K Wetherill Reagan R RR
Drug and alcohol dependence reports 20221113
<h4>Background</h4>The female sex hormones estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) galvanize the ventral striatal reward pathway. E elevates ventral striatal dopamine and accelerates drug-cued reinstatement, while P has opposing 'protective' effects on drug-related behavior. We hypothesize that women may exhibit greater ventral striatal responses to smoking cues (SCs) during the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (MC) when E is high and unimpeded by P, and reduced responses during the late ...[more]