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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Repeated cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure in mice increases voluntary ethanol drinking and ethanol concentrations in the nucleus accumbens
Psychopharmacology Published online 13 Septmeber 2008

This study examined the relationship between voluntary ethanol consumption and ethanol concentrations measured in the nucleus accumbens of ethanol dependent and nondependent C57BL/6J mice.

Voluntary ethanol consumption progressively increased over repeated cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure but remained unchanged in CTL mice. Analysis of lick patterns indicated EtOH mice consumed ethanol at a faster rate compared to CTL mice. The greater and faster rate of ethanol intake in EtOH mice produced higher peak brain ethanol concentrations compared to CTL mice, and these levels were similar to levels produced during chronic intermittent ethanol exposure.

These results show that in this model of dependence and relapse drinking, dependent mice exhibit enhanced voluntary ethanol consumption relative to nondependent controls, which consequently produces blood and brain ethanol concentrations similar to those experienced during chronic intermittent ethanol exposure.


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