title: Regional cerebral blood flow in female cocaine-addicted subjects following limbic activation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cocaine dependence follows a different disease course in men and women, possibly as a consequence of sex-specific neurobiologic responses to chronic cocaine use. We have previously reported that male cocaine-dependent subjects demonstrate a significantly different limbic response to the limbic-stimulus procaine, as measured by regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), compared with male controls. In this study, we assessed the limbic rCBF response to procaine in female cocaine-addicted subjects (n=10) and female controls (n=10).
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were administered 1.38 mg/kg procaine or saline intravenously in two separate sessions. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was used to compare the rCBF response to procaine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Female cocaine-dependent subjects demonstrate a markedly muted, and distinctly different, limbic response to procaine compared with matched healthy controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rCBF response to procaine in female cocaine-dependent subjects suggests significant CNS differences compared with non-addicted female controls. Coupled with findings previously observed in male cocaine-dependent subjects, these biologic differences suggest that both male and female subjects experience alterations in limbic responsiveness following the chronic use of cocaine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. bryon.adinoff@utsouthwestern.edu
authors.forename: Bryon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adinoff
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Devous
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Best
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: Sylva D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Frock
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D011343:Procaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D011343:Procaine