Naltrexone Suppresses Ethanol Intake in 6-Hydroxydopamine-Treated Rats

Enhanced Extracellular Glutamate and Dopamine in the Ventral Pallidum of Alcohol-Preferring AA and Alcohol-Avoiding ANA Rats after Morphine

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of ventral pallidal opioidergic mechanisms in the control of ethanol intake by studying the effects of acute administration of morphine on the levels of GABA, glutamate, and dopamine in the ventral pallidum. The study was conducted using the alcohol-preferring Alko Alcohol (AA) and alcohol-avoiding Alko Non-Alcohol (ANA) rat lines that have well-documented differences in their voluntary ethanol intake and brain opioidergic systems. Therefore, examination of neurobiological differences between the lines is supposed to help to identify the neuronal mechanisms underlying ethanol intake, since selection pressure is assumed gradually to lead to enrichment of alleles promoting high or low ethanol intake, respectively. The effects of an acute dose of morphine (1 or 10 mg/kg s.c.) on the extracellular levels of GABA and glutamate in the ventral pallidum were monitored with in vivo microdialysis. The concentrations of GABA and glutamate in the dialyzates were determined with a high performance liquid chromatography system using fluorescent detection, while electrochemical detection was used for dopamine. The levels of glutamate in the rats injected with morphine 1 mg/kg were significantly above the levels found in the controls and in the rats receiving morphine 10 mg/kg. Morphine 10 mg/kg also increased the levels of dopamine. Morphine could not, however, modify the levels of GABA. The rat lines did not differ in any of the effects of morphine. The data suggest that the glutamatergic and dopaminergic systems in the ventral pallidum may mediate some effects of morphine. Since there were no differences between the AA and ANA lines, the basic hypothesis underlying the use of the genetic animal model suggests that the effects of morphine detected probably do not underlie the different intake of ethanol by the lines and contribute to the control of ethanol intake in these animals.

Modulation of high alcohol drinking in the inbred Fawn-Hooded (FH/Wjd) rat strain: implications for treatment

The Fawn-Hooded rat (FH/Wjd) is an inbred alcohol-preferring rat strain, unlike most of the other strains that were selectively bred for high alcohol intake and preference. It was chosen for study some 16 years ago because of a reported mutation that disrupted platelet serotonin function. Although the FH/Wjd rat has high alcohol intake (>5 g/kg/day) and preference (>65%), interbreeding with an alcohol-non-preferring inbred strain suggested that these measures are unrelated to the serotonin abnormality. Similarly, the exaggerated immobility of the FH/Wjd rats in the forced swim test did not correlate with the high alcohol intake. Many compounds have been tested in the FH/Wjd rats after both acute and chronic treatment and a substantial number of them have proved effective. However, as the case with opiate antagonists, tolerance to the effects of the drug can develop. An up-regulation of opioid receptors accompanied the chronic treatment and this mechanism may account for the development of tolerance. Tolerance to opiate antagonists has also been demonstrated in two of the selectively bred alcohol-preferring rat lines, but it is unknown whether this process may contribute to the relapses seen in individuals being treated with naltrexone. Other drugs that reliably decrease alcohol intake in the FH/Wjd rats include the 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A receptor antagonist, amperozide, the mGlu5 receptor antagonist 3-[(2-methyl-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)ethynyl]pyridine (MTEP) and herbal derivatives such as ibogaine, St. John's wort and kudzu extract. Thus, studies in the FH/Wjd rat have led to the discovery of a wide variety of targets for the development of novel agents to treat alcoholism. The fact that several of these drugs were shown to reduce alcohol intake in some of the selectively bred alcohol-preferring rat lines and/or alcohol-preferring vervet monkeys increases our confidence that they are good candidates for further development.

The alcohol-preferring AA and alcohol-avoiding ANA rats: neurobiology of the regulation of alcohol drinking

The AA (alko, alcohol) and ANA (alko, non-alcohol) rat lines were among the earliest rodent lines produced by bidirectional selection for ethanol preference. The purpose of this review is to highlight the strategies for understanding the neurobiological factors underlying differential alcohol-drinking behavior in these lines. Most early work evaluated functioning of the major neurotransmitter systems implicated in drug reward in the lines. No consistent line differences were found in the dopaminergic system either under baseline conditions or after ethanol challenges. However, increased opioidergic tone in the ventral striatum and a deficiency in endocannabinoid signaling in the prefrontal cortex of AA rats may comprise mechanisms leading to increased ethanol consumption. Because complex behaviors, such as ethanol drinking, are not likely to be controlled by single factors, system-oriented molecular-profiling strategies have been used recently. Microarray based expression analysis of AA and ANA brains and novel data-mining strategies provide a system biological view that allows us to formulate a hypothesis on the mechanism underlying selection for ethanol preference. Two main factors appear active in the selection: a recruitment of signal transduction networks, including mitogen-activated protein kinases and calcium pathways and involving transcription factors such as Creb, Myc and Max, to mediate ethanol reinforcement and plasticity. The second factor acts on the mitochondrion and most likely provides metabolic flexibility for alternative substrate utilization in the presence of low amounts of ethanol.

Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and pituitary beta-endorphin as a function of alcohol intake, age, and gender

BACKGROUND

Experimental evidence indicates that components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and of the endogenous opioid system, such as beta-endorphin (beta-END), influence alcohol consumption, whereas chronic alcohol abuse alters the activity of both systems. Furthermore, gender and age differences have been reported in the activity of the HPA axis under basal conditions, in response to stress and acute alcohol challenge. The objective of the present studies was to investigate the hypothesis that chronic alcohol consumption alters the activity of the HPA axis and pituitary beta-END as a function of severity of alcohol abuse, gender, and age.

METHODS

Three age groups of each gender (18-29, 30-44, and 45-60 years old) were recruited. Each age and gender group included four subgroups: (a) nondrinkers, (b) light drinkers, (c) heavy drinkers, and (d) alcoholics in treatment. Demographic characteristics, alcohol consumption, and presence of alcohol dependence were recorded by using a structured interview. Blood samples were taken on the day of the interview. The levels of plasma adrenal corticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, and beta-END were estimated as an index of the activity of the HPA-axis and pituitary beta-END.

RESULTS

Plasma ACTH and beta-END levels were significantly lower in females than males of all age and drinking category groups. Plasma cortisol levels were higher in 18- to 29-year-old female subjects compared with the 18- to 29-year-old male subjects. The plasma ACTH and beta-END levels were lower whereas plasma cortisol levels were higher in heavy drinkers than nondrinkers. This decrease in plasma ACTH and beta-END levels with heavy drinking was more pronounced in female than male subjects of the 30-44 and 45-60 age groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Chronic drinking, gender, and age influence the activity of the HPA-axis and pituitary beta-END, which in turn may influence drinking behavior.

New neuronal networks involved in ethanol reinforcement

This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 ISBRA/RSA meeting in San Francisco. The organizers were Kalervo Kiianmaa and Andrey E. Ryabinin. The chairs were Kalervo Kiianmaa and Jörgen A. Engel. The presentations were (1) The role of opioidergic and dopaminergic networks in ethanol-seeking behavior, by Kalervo Kiianmaa and Petri Hyytiä; (2) Interaction between the dopamine systems in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens during ethanol self-administration, by Herman H. Samson; (3) Neurochemical and behavioral studies on ethanol and nicotine interactions, by Jörgen A. Engel, Lennart Svensson, Bo Söderpalm, and Anna Larsson; (4) Involvement of the GABA receptor in alcohol reinforcement in sP rats, by Giancarlo Colombo and Giovanni Vacca; (5) Neuroactive steroids and ethanol reinforcement, by Deborah A. Finn, and (6) Potential contribution of the urocortin system to regulation of alcohol self-administration, by Andrey E. Ryabinin and Ryan K. Bachtell.(B)