Abstract
Rationale
Ethanol-induced behavioural sensitization (EBS) does not occur uniformly in mice exposed to the sensitization paradigm. This suggests innate differential responses to ethanol (EtOH) in the reward circuitry of individual animals.
Objectives
To better characterize the adaptive differences between low-sensitized (LS) and high-sensitized (HS) mice, we examined excitatory amino acid (EAA) and inhibitory amino acid (IAA) neurotransmitter levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) during EBS expression.
Methods
Male DBA/2J mice received five ethanol (EtOH) (2.2 g/kg) or saline injections, and locomotor activity (LMA) was assessed during EBS induction. EtOH mice were classified as LS or HS on the basis of final LMA scores. Following an EtOH challenge (1.8 g/kg) 2 weeks later, LMA was re-evaluated and in vivo microdialysis samples were collected from the NAc.
Results
Most differences in amino acid levels were observed within the first 20 min after EtOH challenge. LS mice exhibited similar glutamate levels compared with acutely treated (previously EtOH naïve) mice, and generally increased levels of the IAAs GABA, glycine, and taurine. By contrast, HS mice exhibited increased glutamate and attenuated levels of GABA, glycine, and taurine.
Conclusion
These data suggest that the profile of amino acid neurotransmitters in the NAc of LS and HS mice significantly differs. Elucidating these adaptive differences contributes to our understanding of factors that confer susceptibility/resilience to alcohol use disorder.
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The authors thank Dr. Christina Nona and Roger Raymond for excellent technical assistance.
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This study was supported by NSERC grant RGPIN 06615.
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Nashed, M.G., Chatterjee, D., Nguyen, D. et al. Ethanol-induced changes in synaptic amino acid neurotransmitter levels in the nucleus accumbens of differentially sensitized mice. Psychopharmacology 236, 3541–3556 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05324-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05324-x