Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical function in chronic alcoholism.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) function was assessed during normal daily work and family life in fifteen male brewery workers with a daily alcohol intake of 100 g or more for at least 10 years. Free urinary cortisol was determined during three baseline days and for 3 days during administration of dexamethasone 0.5 mg 6-hourly. All subjects had normal basal urinary cortisol excretion and all except one suppressed normally upon dexamethasone. Four subjects had Cushingoid-like moon face and two of these also had buffalo hump. There was no correlation between free urinary cortisol excretion or dexamethasone suppression and the Cushingoid stigmata. These results suggest that chronic alcohol intake per se does not influence HPA-function.