Research Reveals Connection Between Youth Binge Drinking, Opioid Sensitivity

Binge drinking among young people prepares the brain and body to be more receptive to opioids, increasing the risk of an opioid use disorder, a new study suggests.

Published this month in Frontiers in Psychiatry, the study used adolescent mice to evaluate how binge drinking affected the reaction to morphine. Mice who received the equivalent of a youth's three-day liquor binge and then given morphine after a pain-inducing event exhibited an enhanced reaction to morphine's effects.

The study's researchers explained that binge drinking that significantly elevates blood alcohol content leads to brain inflammation and enhancement of neuroimmune signaling pathways. Ongoing exposure to alcohol at these levels has a pathological effect on these systems, thus preparing the body to be more responsive to opioids.

“More generally, the research also tells us that substance abuse of any form is a slippery and dangerous slope,” said researcher Sulie L. Chang, director of the Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology at Seton Hall University.