Hostility is associated with a low prolactin response to meta-chlorophenylpiperazine in abstinent alcoholics

The prolactin response to the administration of serotonin agonists is an index of central nervous system serotonin (5HT) activity. This index is blunted in association with hostile aggression in personality-disordered individuals without substance abuse. We tested whether prolactin response to the partial 5HT agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (MCPP) (0.35 mg/kg po) was associated with measures of trait hostility in alcoholics who were completing a 3-week rehabilitation program after medical detoxification. We also tested whether the same 5HT index differed in the group of alcoholics compared with the healthy volunteers. The prolactin response to MCPP was inversely associated with the main index of trait hostility and was similarly inversely associated with an index of depression. There was, however, no difference in neuroendocrine or temperature responses to MCPP between the alcohol-dependent group and the healthy volunteers.