Abstract
Introduction. Early social experience has been consistently shown increase alcohol consumption, perhaps by influencing stress systems. However, the connection between these effects and alcohol consumption is complex and poorly understood. This experiment was based on the hypothesis that the effects of chronic social isolation on alcohol consumption would be influenced by both sex and the functioning of Mu-opioid receptor (MOP) systems. Method. The present study assessed the effects of isolation-rearing on later ethanol intake using a two-bottle home-cage consumption (ethanol 8% vs. water) paradigm in wild-type and MOP gene knockout (KO) mice. A total of 97 male and female mice were used in this study. Results. Isolation rearing had no effects upon ethanol consumption in WT mice under the conditions used in the present experiments; however, isolation rearing did have effects in both male and female MOP KO mice, but these effects were in the opposite direction, increasing ethanol consumption in male mice, but decreasing ethanol consumption in female mice. Conclusion. These results indicate that MOP influences ethanol consumption, but does so in quite different ways depending on sex and previous social experience during adolescent development.
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