Possible Interaction: Ethanol and Cocaine

“We further hypothesized that there would be an interaction between alcohol administration and task version, such that alcohol would impair inhibitory control following cocaine , but not neutral cues.”

“Combining cocaine and alcohol attenuated the disruptions in DSST performance observed with alcohol alone, and either did not change or attenuated the improvements in performance observed with cocaine alone.”

“Overall, …) that alcohol … cocaine over alternative reinforcers and thereby may thwart efforts to reduce or abstain from cocaine use, (b) that availability of an alternative, non-drug … decrease preference for cocaine, and (c) that combined use of alcohol and cocaine increases cardiac risk compared to use of cocaine alone.”

“Cocaethylene (the ethyl ester of benzoylecgonine) is a product of the interaction between ethanol and cocaine.”

“Cocaethylene, the ethyl ester of benzoylecgonine, has been detected in the urine of patients reporting concurrent use of cocaine and ethanol , and high levels have been found in the blood of victims of fatal drug overdose.”

“Simultaneous abuse of cocaine and ethanol is a common occurrence.”

“BACKGROUND Concurrent use of cocaine and alcohol results in formation of a cocaine homolog and metabolite-cocaethylene.”

“CONCLUSIONS In the presence of et anol, t he altered biotransformation of coc aine re sulted in 17% of an intravenous cocaine dose being converted to cocaethylene and relatively lower urinary concentrations of benzoylecgonine.”

“ Ethanol ingestion prior to cocaine administration decreased urine benzoylecgonine levels by 48% and increased urinary cocaethylene and ecgonine ethyl ester levels.”

“Subjects liked and experienced more total intoxication after the combination of cocaine and ethanol than after either drug alone.”

“Abstract Rationale: Cocaethylene is a pharmacologically active homolog and metabolite of cocaine, formed by transesterification of cocaine in the presence of ethanol.”

“Because alcohol is often used in conjunction with cocaine , the CNS effects of alcohol when taken with cocaine deserve further investigation.”

“Conclusion: The concomitant use of cocaine and alcohol may have additive negative effects on the brain as compared to the use of only one of these two substances.”

“Concurrent dependence on cocaine and alcohol is common among patients seeking addiction treatment.”

“BACKGROUND Simultaneous abuse of cocaine and alcohol is common.”