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Valyear MD, Eustachon NML, Britt JP. Palatability attributed to alcohol and alcohol-paired flavors. Physiol Behav 2024; 277:114500. [PMID: 38430645 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
The orosensory features of alcoholic drinks are potent relapse triggers because they acquire incentive properties during consumption, including enhanced palatability. Whether mice similarly perceive alcoholic drinks to be more palatable after repeated consumption is complicated by reports showing that alcohol elicits aversive taste reactivity responses and conditions flavor avoidance. Here, by analyzing the microstructure of alcohol consumption, we report a gradual increase in lick bout duration relative to water that is partially maintained by an alcohol-paired flavor in extinction. We interpret lick bout duration to reflect an increase in the palatability alcohol and an alcohol-paired flavor. This finding demonstrates that bout duration is amenable to Pavlovian conditioning and highlights the importance of considering the microstructure of alcohol consumption in preclinical models of alcohol misuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Valyear
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada; Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - N M-L Eustachon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada; Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - J P Britt
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada; Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
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Taxier LR, Flanigan ME, Haun HL, Kash TL. Retrieval of an ethanol-conditioned taste aversion promotes GABAergic plasticity in the insular cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.20.585950. [PMID: 38562680 PMCID: PMC10983921 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.20.585950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Blunted sensitivity to ethanol's aversive effects can increase motivation to consume ethanol; yet, the neurobiological circuits responsible for encoding these aversive properties are not fully understood. Plasticity in cells projecting from the insular cortex (IC) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is critical for taste aversion learning and retrieval, suggesting this circuit's potential involvement in modulating the aversive properties of ethanol. Here, we tested the hypothesis that GABAergic activity onto IC-BLA projections would be facilitated following the retrieval of an ethanol-conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Consistent with this hypothesis, frequency of mIPSCs was increased following retrieval of an ethanol-CTA across cell layers in IC-BLA projection neurons. This increase in GABAergic plasticity occurred in both a circuit-specific and learning-dependent manner. Additionally, local inhibitory inputs onto layer 2/3 IC-BLA projection neurons were greater in number and strength following ethanol-CTA. Finally, DREADD-mediated inhibition of IC parvalbumin-expressing cells blunted the retrieval of ethanol-CTA in male, but not female, mice. Collectively, this work implicates a circuit-specific and learning-dependent increase in GABAergic tone following retrieval of an ethanol-CTA, thereby advancing our understanding of how the aversive effects of ethanol are encoded in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa R Taxier
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
| | - Meghan E Flanigan
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
| | - Harold L Haun
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
| | - Thomas L Kash
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599
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Vore AS, Marsland P, Barney TM, Varlinskaya EI, Landin JD, Healey KL, Kibble S, Swartzwelder HS, Chandler LJ, Deak T. Adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) produces lasting, sex-specific changes in rat body fat independent of changes in white blood cell composition. Front Physiol 2024; 15:1285376. [PMID: 38332987 PMCID: PMC10851431 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1285376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Early initiation of alcohol use during adolescence, and adolescent binge drinking are risk factors for the development of alcohol use disorder later in life. Adolescence is a time of rapid sex-dependent neural, physiological, and behavioral changes as well as a period of heightened vulnerability to many effects of alcohol. The goal of the present studies was to determine age-related changes in blood (leukocyte populations) and body composition across adolescence and early adulthood, and to investigate whether adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure would alter the trajectory of adolescent development on these broad physiological parameters. We observed significant ontogenetic changes in leukocyte populations that were mirrored by an age-related increase in cytokine expression among mixed populations of circulating leukocytes. Despite these developmental changes, AIE did not significantly alter overall leukocyte numbers or cytokine gene expression. However, AIE led to sex-specific changes in body fat mass and fat percentage, with AIE-exposed male rats showing significantly decreased fat levels and female rats showing significantly increased fat levels relative to controls. These changes suggest that while AIE may not alter overall leukocyte levels, more complex phenotypic changes in leukocyte populations could underlie previously reported differences in cytokine expression. Coupled with long-term shifts in adipocyte levels, this could have long-lasting effects on innate immunity and the capacity of individuals to respond to later immunological and physiological threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S. Vore
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United States
| | - Paige Marsland
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United States
| | - Thaddeus M. Barney
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United States
| | - Elena I. Varlinskaya
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United States
| | - Justine D. Landin
- Department of Neurosciences, Charleston Alcohol Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Kati L. Healey
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Sandra Kibble
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States
| | - H. S. Swartzwelder
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Lawrence J. Chandler
- Department of Neurosciences, Charleston Alcohol Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Terrence Deak
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United States
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