Key result
Excessive ethanol drinking alters ~30% of extended amygdala candidate genes in dependent mice.
Why the study?
Transcriptional changes selectively associated with excessive ethanol drinking in dependent mice compared to non-dependent or forced intoxication mice were not identified.
Excessive ethanol drinking in dependent mice is associated with specific transcriptional changes in the extended amygdala involving neurotransmission and transcriptional regulation pathways.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Selective gene changes mark excessive drinking in dependent mice; leaves open causal roles and human translation.
Alcoholism is characterized by a progressive loss of control over ethanol intake. The purpose of this study was to identify transcriptional changes selectively associated with excessive ethanol drinking in dependent mice, as opposed to non-dependent mice maintaining a stable voluntary consumption or mice solely undergoing forced intoxication. We measured expression levels of 106 candidate genes in the extended amygdala, a key brain structure for the development of drug addiction. Cluster analysis identified 17 and 15 genes selectively induced or repressed, respectively, under conditions of excessive drinking. These genes belong to signaling pathways involved in neurotransmission and transcriptional regulation.
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Contet et al. (2011) studied Alcoholism / ethanol dependence. Excessive ethanol drinking associated with dependence vs. Non-dependent mice maintaining stable voluntary consumption or forced intoxication was evaluated on Expression levels of 106 candidate genes in the extended amygdala. Excessive ethanol drinking in dependent mice selectively induced 17 genes and repressed 15 genes among 106 candidate genes in the extended amygdala.
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