# Adolescent Alcohol Abuse, Traumatic Stress, and Vulnerability to Development of PTSD

> **NIH NIH R01** · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · 2022 · $450,355

## Abstract

7. PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are two of the most prevalent
psychiatric conditions and are highly comorbid. The social and financial burden that results from a lack of
effective treatments for these disorders is enormous. Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need to gain a greater
understanding of the pathophysiological basis of PTSD and AUD comorbidity. Current evidence suggests the
neurocircuitry of PTSD and AUD significantly overlap, which includes dysfunctional control of behavior by the
prefrontal cortex (PFC). Thus, alterations in prefrontal mediated cognitive processes that regulate behavior may
contribute to the high comorbidity of the disorders. There is a strong correlation between the age of onset of
alcohol use during adolescence and the likelihood of developing an AUD later in life. In addition, adolescence is
a critical period of continued development, and accumulating evidence indicates that the abuse of alcohol during
adolescence can have long-term consequences on brain and behavior. Considering the high prevalence of
adolescent alcohol abuse, it is therefore surprising that little research has focused on understanding its impact
on an individual’s ability to cope with a traumatic stress event in adulthood. The overarching hypothesis of this
proposal is that adults with a history of adolescent alcohol abuse who experience a traumatic stress event have
reduced stress resiliency and are at a significantly higher risk of developing PTSD and AUD. This experimental
approach takes advantage of a binge ethanol model consisting of repeated cycles of Adolescent Intermittent
Ethanol (AIE) exposure by vapor inhalation and a Single Prolonged Stress (SPS) procedure that is thought to
model a traumatic stress event in humans. Following AIE and SPS exposure in early adulthood, rats will then be
tested for alterations in fear behavior and ethanol self-administration. The following three specific aims are
designed to test the overarching hypothesis: Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that exposure to AIE-SPS results in
pharmacologically reversible alterations in fear-related behaviors. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that exposure to
AIE-SPS increases alcohol consumption and relapse-like behavior induced by exposure to fear conditioned
cues. Aim 3 will test the hypothesis that AIE-SPS induced alterations of fear behaviors reflect alterations in
prelimbic and infralimbic communication with core regions of the fear neurocircuitry. Findings from these novel
and innovative studies will significantly advance our understanding of the behavioral deficits and neural
mechanisms underlying the complex interactions between AUD and PTSD, and whether a history of adolescent
alcohol abuse may represent a pre-existing risk factor that increases susceptibility of developing not only PTSD
associated with a traumatic event but also AUD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10318965
- **Project number:** 5R01AA027706-03
- **Recipient organization:** MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
- **Principal Investigator:** L Judson Chandler
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $450,355
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10318965

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10318965, Adolescent Alcohol Abuse, Traumatic Stress, and Vulnerability to Development of PTSD (5R01AA027706-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10318965. Licensed CC0.

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