Abstract
BackgroundCraving for alcohol, in other words powerful desire to drink after withdrawal, is an important contributor to the development and maintenance of alcoholism. Here, we studied the role of GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) on alcohol-seeking behavior in group-housed female mice.MethodsWe modeled alcohol-seeking behavior in C57Bl/6J female mice. The behavioral experiments in group-housed female mice were performed in an automated IntelliCage system. We conducted RT-qPCR analysis of Gdnf, Bdnf, Manf and Cdnf expression in different areas of the female mouse brain after alcohol drinking conditioning. We injected an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector expressing human GDNF or BDNF in mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc) after ten days of alcohol drinking conditioning and assessed alcohol-seeking behavior. Behavioral data were analyzed by two-way repeated-measures ANOVA, and statistically significant effects were followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test. The student’s t-test was used to analyze qPCR data.ResultsThe RT-qPCR data showed that Gdnf mRNA level in NAc was more than four times higher (p < 0.0001) in the mice from the sweetened alcohol group compared to the water group. Our data showed a more than a two-fold decrease in Manf mRNA (p = 0.04) and Cdnf mRNA (p = 0.02) levels in the hippocampus and Manf mRNA in the VTA (p = 0.04) after alcohol consumption. Two-fold endogenous overexpression of Gdnf mRNA and lack of CDNF did not affect alcohol-seeking behavior. The AVV-GDNF overexpression in nucleus accumbens suppressed alcohol-seeking behavior while overexpression of BDNF did not.ConclusionsThe effect of increased endogenous Gdnf mRNA level in female mice upon alcohol drinking has remained unknown. Our data suggest that an increase in endogenous GDNF expression upon alcohol drinking occurs in response to the activation of another mesolimbic reward pathway participant.
Highlights
Craving for alcohol, in other words powerful desire to drink after withdrawal, is an important contribu‐ tor to the development and maintenance of alcoholism
Dopamine neurons with cell bodies located in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projecting to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are involved in the processing of reward-related stimuli associated with drugs of abuse [7]
We found that, unlike associated virus (AAV)-glial cell linederived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), transduction of AAV-brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) into nucleus accumbens had no effect on alcohol-seeking behavior in our model
Summary
Craving for alcohol, in other words powerful desire to drink after withdrawal, is an important contribu‐ tor to the development and maintenance of alcoholism. Ethanol is a known psychoactive substance with rewarding and sedative-hypnotic properties. The environmental contexts (cues) associated with alcohol use increase the desire to drink (craving) and can provoke relapse [4, 5]. Preclinical laboratory animal models of drug relapse and craving provided strong data suggesting that alcohol acts like other drugs of abuse by activating molecular cascade within the mesocorticolimbic system [6]. Dopamine neurons with cell bodies located in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projecting to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are involved in the processing of reward-related stimuli associated with drugs of abuse [7]. Alcohol promotes dopamine release predominantly in the NAc in rodents [8] and the human brain with a preferential effect in the ventral striatum [9]
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