Effect of Endotoxin on Alcohol Consumption

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 21-65;
• Able to read and write English;
• Meets DSM-5 criteria for current (past 6 months) alcohol use disorder;
• Drinking criteria: Males - Drinks > 14 drinks per week and exceeds 4 drinks per day at least twice per week; Females -Drinks > 7 drinks per week and exceeds 3 drinks per day at least twice per week.
• Must meet drinking criteria during a consecutive 30-day period within the 90 days prior to baseline;
• Laboratory sessions will be scheduled such that subjects will not have major responsibilities on the following day which might limit drinking during the self-administration session (e.g., job interview, exam).
• Negative urine pregnancy test for women.

Exclusion Criteria

• Participants with any significant current medical conditions (neurological, cardiovascular [including hypertension or hypotension: sitting BP >160/100 or 8 on the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment scale at intake appointments;
• Participation within the past 8 weeks in other studies that involve additive blood sampling and/or interventional measures that would be considered excessive in combination with the current application.
• Subjects >38 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
• Subjects with resting pulse >100 at challenge
• Subjects with recent (past 2 weeks) acute illness or vaccination
• Subjects with >Grade 2 laboratory abnormalities on screening