Every woman knows: we are largely governed by our hormones. Depending on her cycle, a woman may be in a more sociable or more withdrawn mood, more energetic or tired and irritable, have more or less libido and more or less appetite. This would also be true in relation to alcohol consumption. According to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications on December 30, 2024, a woman about to ovulate would tend to drink much more compulsively. Ultimately, this discovery could make it possible to develop a treatment more suited to treating alcoholism in women.
In 2021, researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, in the United States, discovered in the laboratory that a subpopulation of neurons in a region of the brain called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (or BNST) was more excitable in mice. females than in males. This increased activity was correlated with excessive alcohol consumption. According to scientists, the overexcitation of this neuronal circuit could well be due to estrogen. For the present study, they therefore decided to study the impact of these hormones by monitoring the cycles of female mice that they gave to drink.
They were thus able to observe that the animals wanted to drink more on days when their circulating estrogen level was high than when it was low. This hormone would therefore stimulate brain activity in a region of the brain linked to excessive alcohol consumption.
Women’s alcohol consumption much less studied than men’s
“When a woman takes her first sip from a bottle of alcohol, those neurons go crazy. And if she’s in a state of high estrogen concentration, they go even crazier,” comments Dr. Kristen Pleil, associate professor of pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine. The effect seemed particularly strong within 30 minutes of the first sip of alcohol. If we follow this logic, a woman whose menstrual cycle is close to ovulation and therefore at her estrogen peak, would be more likely to drink excessively.
Through further testing, the researchers determined that the hormone bound to receptors on the surface of neurons where it modulated cell-to-cell communication.
“We believe this is the first time anyone has demonstrated that, during a normal estrous cycle, endogenous estrogen produced by the ovaries can use such a rapid mechanism to control behavior,” welcomes Dr Pleil. Indeed, although the harmful effects of alcohol on health are much more dangerous in women than men, the latter’s consumption has been studied much less. “ We know much less about the factors that influence alcohol use in women because most studies of alcohol use have been done on men », deplores Dr Pleil.
“A targeted approach to treating alcohol use disorders”
Ultimately, blocking the action of the enzyme that produces estrogen could perhaps make it possible to develop treatments to reduce alcohol consumption. In the United States, a similar drug is already used to treat women with estrogen-related cancers. According to Dr Pleil, this could constitute a “targeted approach to treating alcohol use disorders.”
Currently, in France, there are two medications to help dependent people reduce their consumption: nalmefene and baclofen. As these have many side effects, medical, psychological and social monitoring is essential to support the patient.
In recent years, health authorities have noted an increase in alcohol consumption among women. According to the latest barometer of Public health France on this subject, the share of women aged 35 to 55 reporting having consumed alcohol daily over the last twelve months increased significantly between 2017 (22.3%) and 2021 (27.9%). Same observation for older women. Between 2017 and 2021, women aged 35 and over reporting APIs (heavy occasional alcohol use or “binge drinking”), regardless of frequency, also increased.
Source: www.topsante.com
