Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Volume 22, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22073788
Keywords
sex differences; alcohol; nucleus accumbens core; nucleus accumbens shell; dopamine; orexin; AMPA (α -amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid); early life stress; anxiety; rodent models
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [R15 AA027915, F99 NS118727, R01 AA024109]
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Alcohol use disorder remains a significant social, health, and economic issue, with levels of problem drinking in women on the rise recently. Exploring the underlying mechanisms that drive drinking behaviors differently in males and females is crucial for developing more targeted therapeutic treatments. Research has shown similarities and differences in alcohol drinking patterns between the sexes, highlighting the importance of studying female and male mechanisms to gain a comprehensive understanding of addiction and treatment.
Alcohol use disorder remains a substantial social, health, and economic problem and problem drinking levels in women have been increasing in recent years. Understanding whether and how the underlying mechanisms that drive drinking vary by sex is critical and could provide novel, more targeted therapeutic treatments. Here, we examine recent results from our laboratories and others which we believe provide useful insights into similarities and differences in alcohol drinking patterns across the sexes. Findings for binge intake and aversion-resistant, compulsion-like alcohol drinking are considered, since both are likely significant contributors to alcohol problems in humans. We also describe studies regarding mechanisms that may underlie sex differences in maladaptive alcohol drinking, with some focus on the importance of nucleus accumbens (NAcb) core and shell regions, several receptor types (dopamine, orexin, AMPA-type glutamate), and possible contributions of sex hormones. Finally, we discuss how stressors such as early life stress and anxiety-like states may interact with sex differences to contribute to alcohol drinking. Together, these findings underscore the importance and critical relevance of studying female and male mechanisms for alcohol and co-morbid conditions to gain a true and clinically useful understanding of addiction and neuropsychiatric mechanisms and treatment.
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