The effects of chronic sleep restriction on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and its interaction with abstinence from opioid use

Chronic SR interferes with HPA axis dynamics in sexually dimorphic ways that are expected to differentially affect SR-induced pathophysiology and disease risks. Chronic SR caused the HPA axis abnormalities observed during abstinence, providing a biological linkage between two hypothesized risk factors in vulnerability to drug taking and relapse that demonstrate sexual dimorphisms.