Alcohol Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Relationship Unbonded by Oxytocin Blockade.

The increase in alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD) in recent decades is concerning ( 1 White A.M. Castle I.P. Powell P.A. Hingson R.W. Koob G.F. Alcohol-related deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA. 2022; 327: 1704-1706 Crossref PubMed Scopus (70) Google Scholar ). Stress-induced disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are highly comorbid with AUD (50% of cases) and alcohol misuse (60% of cases) ( 2 Debell F. Fear N.T. Head M. Batt-Rawden S. Greenberg N. Wessely S. Goodwin L. A systematic review of the comorbidity between PTSD and alcohol misuse. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2014; 49: 1401-1425 Crossref PubMed Google Scholar ). Although there are 3 effective medications for AUD approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( 3 Witkiewitz K. Litten R.Z. Leggio L. Advances in the science and treatment of alcohol use disorder. Sci Adv. 2019; 5eaax4043 Crossref PubMed Scopus (181) Google Scholar ), none of them target specifically overlapping mechanisms that are related to both AUD and PTSD. As such, the development of novel treatments that may be beneficial for patients with comorbid AUD and PTSD is highly important. The neuropeptide oxytocin and its receptor may be targets for such a potential novel pharmacotherapeutic approach. Preclinical studies and initial clinical studies suggest a role for oxytocin in both PTSD and AUD [for reviews, see ( 4 Flanagan J.C. Mitchell J.M. Augmenting treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder and co-occurring conditions with oxytocin. Curr Treat Options Psychiatry. 2019; 6: 132-142 Crossref Scopus (5) Google Scholar , 5 Lee M.R. Rohn M.C. Tanda G. Leggio L. Targeting the oxytocin system to treat addictive disorders: Rationale and progress to date. CNS Drugs. 2016; 30: 109-123 Crossref PubMed Google Scholar )]. Nonetheless, the potential dual therapeutic role of oxytocin in treating AUD/PTSD comorbidity remains to be determined. SEE CORRESPONDING ARTICLE ON PAGE 215 SEE CORRESPONDING ARTICLE ON PAGE 215 Oxytocin Reduces Sensitized Stress–Induced Alcohol Relapse in a Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder ComorbidityBiological PsychiatryVol. 94Issue 3PreviewThere is high comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder with few effective treatment options. Animal models of PTSD have shown increases in alcohol drinking, but effects of stress history on subsequent vulnerability to alcohol relapse have not been examined. Here we present a mouse model of PTSD involving chronic multimodal stress exposure that resulted in long-lasting sensitization to stress-induced alcohol relapse, and this sensitized stress response was blocked by oxytocin (OT) administration. Full-Text PDF