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Friday, July 27, 2007

Ethanol Preference Is Inversely Correlated With Ethanol-Induced Dopamine Release in 2 Substrains of C57BL/6 Mice

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles). 25 July 2007


The C57BL/6 mouse model has been used extensively in alcohol drinking studies, yet significant differences in ethanol preference between substrains exist. Differences in ethanol-induced dopamine release in the ventral striatum could contribute to this variability in drinking behavior as dopamine has been implicated in the reinforcing properties of ethanol.

C57BL/6J mice exhibited significantly greater ethanol preference and less ethanol-stimulated dopamine release compared with C57BL/6NCrl mice. The intraperitoneal injections of ethanol caused a significant increase in dopamine in both substrains at all 3 doses with significant differences between substrains at the 2 highest alcohol doses.

Saline injections had a significant effect on dopamine release when given in a volume equivalent to the 3 g/kg ethanol dose.

Ethanol pharmacokinetics were similar in the 2 substrains at all 3 doses.

Ethanol-induced dopamine release in the ventral striatum may contribute to the differences in alcohol preference between C57BL/6J and C57BL/6NCrl mice.

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Request Reprint E-mail: rgonzales@mail.utexas.edu
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