In offspring of alcohol dependent individuals, ethanol consumption results in significantly lower adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels compared to control subjects that are predictive of future AUD (Schuckit 1998; Schuckit et al. 1996; Schuckit and Smith 1997). An alcohol-induced attenuation of the ACTH response to stress has also been noted in high risk subjects (Zimmermann et al. 2004), while ethanol consumption prior to a stress task attenuated the stress-induced increase is ACTH and cortisol levels in both high and low risk groups (Dai et al. 2002, 2007).
