title: Prenatal and adult androgen activities in alcohol dependence.
abstract: Alcohol dependence is more prevalent in men than in women. The evidence for how prenatal and adult androgens influence alcohol dependence is limited. We investigated the effects of prenatal and adult androgen activity on alcohol dependence. Moreover, we studied how the behaviours of pregnant women affect their children's prenatal androgen load.
  
  
  
  We quantified prenatal androgen markers (e.g., second-to-fourth finger length ratio [2D : 4D]) and blood androgens in 200 early-abstinent alcohol-dependent in-patients and 240 controls (2013-2015, including a 12-month follow-up). We also surveyed 134 women during pregnancy (2005-2007) and measured the 2D : 4D of their children (2013-2016).
  
  
  
  The prenatal androgen loads were higher in the male alcohol-dependent patients compared to the controls (lower 2D : 4D, P = 0.004) and correlated positively with the patients' liver transaminase activities (P < 0.001) and alcohol withdrawal severity (P = 0.019). Higher prenatal androgen loads and increasing androgen levels during withdrawal predicted earlier and more frequent 12-month hospital readmission in alcohol-dependent patients (P < 0.005). Moreover, stress levels (P = 0.002), alcohol (P = 0.010) and tobacco consumption (P = 0.017), and lifetime stressors (P = 0.019) of women during pregnancy related positively to their children's prenatal androgen loads (lower 2D : 4D).
  
  
  
  Androgen activities in alcohol-dependent patients and behaviours of pregnant women represent novel preventive and therapeutic targets of alcohol dependence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6086-0924
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7517-9154
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mühle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weinland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bouna-Pyrrou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Behrens
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mikolaiczik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: M-R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Muschler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saigali
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sibach
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tanovska
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology, ENT Clinic, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hoppe
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.|kbo-Heckscher-Klinikum, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.|Department of Perinatal Medicine and Obstetrics, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Goecke
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fasching
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kornhuber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000728:Androgens / Q000378:metabolism*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: alcohol; androgen effects; maternal behaviour; neuroendocrinology; substance use disorders