Characterizing chronic pain and alcohol use trajectory among treatment-seeking alcoholics

Chronic inflammatory pain drives alcohol drinking in a sex-dependent manner for C57BL/6J mice

“…The exception to this finding is CFA-treated females: despite comparable drinking patterns to saline-treated controls, CFA-treated females exhibited a significant negative correlation for Drinking x Pain, where injured females that drink more alcohol experience higher pain sensitivity. This result is reminiscent of clinical data showing that there is higher EIH severity and prevalence in females, with women being more likely to report significant recurrent pain and concurrent chronic pain conditions (Boissoneault et al, 2018). Despite our findings closely following predicted results from the literature, not having nociceptive sensitivity measures prior to EtOH exposure makes it impossible to conclude whether or not these data indicate a causal null effect of alcohol consumption on pain.…”

“…This is an important distinction, as cessation of alcohol intake following repeated drug exposure can exacerbate pain sensitivity. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as EtOH withdrawal-induced hyperalgesia (EIH), has been reported in mice (Dhir et al, 2005; Smith et al, 2016), as well as rats (Dina et al, 2000, 2007; Edwards et al, 2012; Fu et al, 2015; Gatch and Lal, 1999; Malec et al, 1987; Roltsch et al, 2017; Shumilla et al, 2005) and humans (Boissoneault et al, 2018; Dodds et al, 1945; Jochum et al, 2010; Riley and King, 2009; Wolff et al, 1942), using a variety of alcohol exposure models. In our CA2BC paradigm, it is unclear whether there were pathological shifts in sensitivity following three weeks of alcohol exposure.…”

“…Although alcohol can act as a transient pharmacological intervention for pain, excessive drinking can lead to increased risk for addiction and related heath complications (Koob and Volkow, 2010). Chronic exposure to alcohol is especially detrimental for pain, with marked increases in sensitivity after drug cessation (Boissoneault et al, 2018; Dhir et al, 2005; Dina et al, 2000, 2007; Dodds et al, 1945; Edwards et al, 2012; Fu et al, 2015; Gatch and Lal, 1999; Jochum et al, 2010; Malec et al, 1987; Riley and King, 2009; Roltsch et al, 2017; Shumilla et al, 2005; Smith et al, 2015; Wolff et al, 1942). Clinical observations have suggested important differences in how men and women consume alcohol and experience the detrimental consequences of alcohol abuse when suffering from pathological pain.…”

“…Among chronic pain patients, alcohol use is more prevalent in males (Brennan et al, 2011; Egli et al, 2012; Riley and King, 2009; Wilsnack et al, 2009). Females that habitually consume alcohol, however, are more susceptible to pathological pain (Boissoneault et al, 2018). To date, preclinical investigations have failed to model similar sex-specific patterns in drinking and pain, thus providing a major hurdle to studying the mechanisms of pain-related alcohol consumption (Smith et al, 2015; Yezierski and Hansson, 2018).…”

Effect Of Inflammatory Pain On Alcohol-Induced Dopamine Release In The Nucleus Accumbens: Behavioural Implications In Rat Models

“…Conversely, there is also evidence that the presence of pain may alter alcohol use patterns. In fact, treatmentseeking alcoholics have a highly prevalence of pain compared to the rest of the population [2,36] and higher levels of pain correlate with higher risk of alcohol relapse [15]. This interplay between pain and addiction has been commonly reported for opioids [5,21] and it has also been thoroughly investigated in preclinical studies.…”