Pharmacopsychiatry 2009; 42 - A156
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1240228

Low dopamine D2/3 receptor availability is associated with high sensitivity to pain in detoxified alcoholics and healthy controls

KN Spreckelmeyer 1, M Paulzen 1, A Weymanns 1, J Van Waesberghe 1, J Zalewski 1, I Vernaleken 1, M Raptis 2, KM Schaefer 2, RD Treede 3, T Baltus 4, F Rösch 5, G Gründer 1
  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • 3Department of Neurophysiology, Heidelberg University, Germany
  • 4Department of Anaesthesiology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • 5Department of Nuclear Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany

Patients suffering from alcohol addiction are known to be more sensitive to painful stimulation than healthy controls. Dopamine is suggested to play a key role in pain regulation. Aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between brain dopamine and somatosensory perception in alcoholics and healthy controls. Temperature and touch perception were evaluated in 12 male detoxified alcohol dependent patients and 12 age matched controls using a standardized somatosensory test battery (Quantitative Sensorische Testung, QST, by Treede 2006). The AUDIT score (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) was taken as means for alcohol consumption in patients (at time of drinking) and controls. Ten of the patients and 10 of the controls also underwent Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with [F18]fallypride to quantify D2/3 receptor availability in the brain. Binding potentials were calculated by means of the simplified reference tissue model. Sensitivity to pain negatively correlated with the AUDIT score in both, patients and controls. Moreover, a positive correlation was found between individual threshold for pressure pain and D2/3 receptor availability in the thalamus and the striatum. The results indicate a direct relationship between alcohol consumption and pain perception. They further support dopamine as mediator of pain regulation.