Intravenous cocaine increases plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine in humans

Cocaine has been shown to activate the sympathoadrenal system in both anima l and human studies. Controlled human studies have found inconclusive resul ts regarding whether acute cocaine treatment elevates plasma epinephrine an d norepinephrine concentrations. The purpose of this study was to investiga te whether commonly abused doses of cocaine increase plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations in humans, in a double-blind, placebo-contro lled study. Five male cocaine users were given an intravenous injection of 0.46 mg/kg dose of cocaine or placebo, on two consecutive days. Plasma epin ephrine and norepinephrine concentrations were significantly increased in r esponse to cocaine injection compared to placebo. Peak plasma epinephrine a nd norepinephrine concentrations were reached 3 and 12 min after cocaine in jection, respectively. While changes in epinephrine levels following cocain e were correlated with systolic blood pressure and heart rate changes, chan ges in plasma norepinephrine were correlated with diastolic blood pressure and heart rate changes following cocaine administration. These results sugg est that plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine can be used as a measure for cocaine induced sympathoadrenal system activation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scien ce Inc. All rights reserved.