Journal
ALCOHOL
Volume 42, Issue 2, Pages 91-97Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2007.12.002
Keywords
ethanol; reinforcement; dependence; withdrawal; norepinephrine; noradrenaline
Categories
Funding
- NIAAA NIH HHS [F32 AA014723-01, F32 AA014723-03, F32 AA014723, F32 AA014723-02, R01 AA012602, AA012602, AA014723] Funding Source: Medline
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The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that blockade of alpha(1)-adrenergic receptors may suppress the excessive ethanol consumption associated with acute withdrawal in ethanol-dependent rats. Following the acquisition and stabilization of operant ethanol self-administration in male Wistar rats, dependence was induced in half the animals by subjecting them to a 4-week intermittent vapor exposure period in which animals were exposed to ethanol vapor for 14 h/day. Subsequent to dependence induction, the effect of alpha(1)-noradrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2.0 mg/kg IP) was tested on operant responding for ethanol in vapor-exposed and control rats during acute withdrawal. In ethanol-dependent animals, prazosin significantly suppressed responding at the 1.5 and 2.0 mg/kg doses, whereas only the 2.0 mg/kg dose was effective in nondependent animals, identifying an increase in the sensitivity to prazosin in dependent animals. Conversely, at the lowest dose tested (0.25 mg/kg), prazosin increased responding in nondependent animals, which is consistent with the effect of anxiolytics on ethanol self-administration in nondependent animals. None of the doses tested reliably affected concurrent water self-administration. These results suggest the involvement of the noradrenergic system in the excessive alcohol drinking seen during acute withdrawal in ethanol-dependent rats. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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