Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on growth axis in human adolescents of both sexes

Abstract

We previously reported the deleterious effects of acute alcohol intoxication (AAI) on pituitary-gonadal and pituitary-adrenal axes hormones in human adolescents. In the present paper we studied the effects of AAI on the growth axis hormones, and the possible contribution of the insulin-glucose axis to the alcohol-induced dysfunction of the growth axis in human adolescents. Blood samples were drawn from adolescents that arrived at the emergency department with evident behavioural symptoms of drunkenness (AAI) or with nil consumption of alcohol (controls [C]). AAI produced in the adolescents of both sexes in our series: a decrease in growth hormone (GH) levels, without significant alteration of either insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) or insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP3); an increase in plasma glucose and a decrease in insulin in the female adolescents but not in the males. Males and females undergo a significant period of bone growth during adolescence. Growth axis hormones play an important role in the pubertal spurt. Thus, ethanol consumption during adolescence could have long-lasting deleterious effects on this aspect of development. In industrialised countries, around 35% of alcohol drinkers are under 16 years old, therefore the result of this study should be made known to adolescents and the appropriate authorities.