Figure 6
Morning (0800 hours, light on 0600 hours) cortisol measures from male cynomolgus monkeys that underwent repeated withdrawal protocol. These samples were taken before dexamethasone (DEX) treatment. Samples were obtained before induction (base); after 30 sessions of 1.5 g/kg per day induced dose of EtOH (Ind); after 6 and 12 months, respectively, of 22 h/day self-administration (range of mean daily intakes per monkey was 2.0–5.6 g/kg per day or approximately 8–22 drinks per day). ’A1’ and ‘A1.1’ were taken at 48 h and the 18th day of the first abstinence, respectively. Abstinence was imposed for 28 days. Between A1 and A2, there were 4 months of 22 h access to EtOH (cortisol not sampled). After the second abstinence period (again 28 days), cortisol was sampled in the 4th month of 22 h access to EtOH (20 months). A3 and 3.1 were taken at 48 h and the 18th day of the third abstinence period, respectively. There was a main effect of experimental phase (F(9, 81)=6.7, p<0.001) and pairwise decrease in cortisol at 20 months compared with baseline (t=2.7, p<0.02), and pairwise increase in all samples during all abstinence times compared to baseline (all p<0.01).
