Chronic ethanol drinking increases during the luteal menstrual cycle phase in rhesus monkeys: implication of progesterone and related neurosteroids.

This is the first study to show that normal menstrual cycle fluctuations in progesterone, particularly during the late luteal phase, can modulate ethanol intake. Two of 11 neuroactive steroids were selectively associated with the effect of cycle progesterone on ethanol drinking, suggesting possible links to CNS mechanisms of ethanol intake control.