Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Based Study to Determine Effect of Evening Alcohol on Sympathetic Neural Activity and Baroreflex Function in Binge Drinkers

This study will recruit male and female binge drinkers who will participate in a randomized, cross-over, double-blind, placebo-based study to examine the impact of an evening of alcohol vs. placebo/fluid-control on autonomic and cardiovascular control at night and the subsequent morning. The study will utilize established techniques for assessing sleep (polysomnography) and autonomic/cardiovascular control (microneurography, beat-to-beat finger plethysmography, electrocardiogram, etc.). All subjects will undergo a familiarization night in the sleep laboratory prior to their first randomized test session with either alcohol or placebo/fluid-control. Both men and women will be tested to address a secondary aim of determining the impact of sex (male vs. female) and ovarian cycle (early follicular vs. midluteal phase) on sympathetic neural responsiveness to evening alcohol in binge drinkers. Finally, as a tertiary/exploratory aim, participants that have a respiratory disturbance index of ≥5 episodes per hour during the alcohol treatment will be asked to consider one additional overnight session where they will be randomly assigned to either continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or sham-CPAP for one additional night of evening alcohol consumption.