Abstract
This article reviews recent efforts in developing laboratory animal models for the study of alcoholism and abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior. Through selective breeding, stable lines of rats that reliably exhibit high and low voluntary alcohol consumption have been raised. The high preference animals self-administer ethanol by free-choice drinking, and operantly for intragastric infusion, in amounts that produce intoxication. With chronic free-choice drinking, the preferring rats develop tolerance and physical dependence. Low to moderate concentrations (50-150 mg%) of ethanol are reinforcing to the preferring rat, as evidenced by intracranial self-administration studies. Compared with nonpreferring animals, they are less affected and develop tolerance more quickly to the sedative-hypnotic effects of ethanol. Neurochemical, -anatomical and -pharmacological studies indicate innate differences between the alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring lines in the brain limbic structures. Depending on the animal model under study, a change in the main dopaminergic pathway and/or the serotonergic, opioid, and GABAergic systems that regulate this pathway may underlie the vulnerability to the abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior in these pharmacogenetic animal models of alcoholism.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 182-188 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Clinical neuroscience (New York, N.Y.) |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - 1995 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Pharmacogenetic models of alcoholism. / Li, T. K.; McBride, W. J.
In: Clinical neuroscience (New York, N.Y.), Vol. 3, No. 3, 1995, p. 182-188.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmacogenetic models of alcoholism.
AU - Li, T. K.
AU - McBride, W. J.
PY - 1995
Y1 - 1995
N2 - This article reviews recent efforts in developing laboratory animal models for the study of alcoholism and abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior. Through selective breeding, stable lines of rats that reliably exhibit high and low voluntary alcohol consumption have been raised. The high preference animals self-administer ethanol by free-choice drinking, and operantly for intragastric infusion, in amounts that produce intoxication. With chronic free-choice drinking, the preferring rats develop tolerance and physical dependence. Low to moderate concentrations (50-150 mg%) of ethanol are reinforcing to the preferring rat, as evidenced by intracranial self-administration studies. Compared with nonpreferring animals, they are less affected and develop tolerance more quickly to the sedative-hypnotic effects of ethanol. Neurochemical, -anatomical and -pharmacological studies indicate innate differences between the alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring lines in the brain limbic structures. Depending on the animal model under study, a change in the main dopaminergic pathway and/or the serotonergic, opioid, and GABAergic systems that regulate this pathway may underlie the vulnerability to the abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior in these pharmacogenetic animal models of alcoholism.
AB - This article reviews recent efforts in developing laboratory animal models for the study of alcoholism and abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior. Through selective breeding, stable lines of rats that reliably exhibit high and low voluntary alcohol consumption have been raised. The high preference animals self-administer ethanol by free-choice drinking, and operantly for intragastric infusion, in amounts that produce intoxication. With chronic free-choice drinking, the preferring rats develop tolerance and physical dependence. Low to moderate concentrations (50-150 mg%) of ethanol are reinforcing to the preferring rat, as evidenced by intracranial self-administration studies. Compared with nonpreferring animals, they are less affected and develop tolerance more quickly to the sedative-hypnotic effects of ethanol. Neurochemical, -anatomical and -pharmacological studies indicate innate differences between the alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring lines in the brain limbic structures. Depending on the animal model under study, a change in the main dopaminergic pathway and/or the serotonergic, opioid, and GABAergic systems that regulate this pathway may underlie the vulnerability to the abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior in these pharmacogenetic animal models of alcoholism.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 8612063
AN - SCOPUS:0029444473
VL - 3
SP - 182
EP - 188
JO - Clinical Neuroscience
JF - Clinical Neuroscience
SN - 1065-6766
IS - 3
ER -