Correlation between ethanol behavioral sensitization and midbrain dopamine neuron reactivity to ethanol
Abstract
Repeated ethanol injections lead to a sensitization of its stimulant effects in mice. Some recent results argue against a role for ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons in ethanol behavioral sensitization. The aim of the present study was to test whether in vivo ethanol locomotor sensitization correlates with changes in either basal‐ or ethanol‐evoked firing rates of dopamine neurons in vitro. Female Swiss mice were daily injected with 2.5 g/kg ethanol (or saline in the control group) for 7 days and their locomotor activity was recorded. At the end of the sensitization procedure, extracellular recordings were made from dopaminergic neurons in midbrain slices from these mice. Significantly higher spontaneous basal firing rates of dopamine neurons were recorded in ethanol‐sensitized mice relative to control mice, but without correlations with the behavioral effects. The superfusion of sulpiride, a dopamine D 2 antagonist, induced a stronger increase of dopamine neuron firing rates in ethanol‐sensitized mice. This shows that the D 2 feedback in dopamine neurons is preserved after chronic ethanol administration and argues against a reduced D 2 feedback as an explanation for the increased dopamine neuron basal firing rates in ethanol‐sensitized mice. Finally, ethanol superfusion (10–100 mM) significantly increased the firing rates of dopamine neurons and this effect was of higher magnitude in ethanol‐sensitized mice. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between such a sensitization of dopamine neuron activity and ethanol behavioral sensitization. These results support the hypothesis that changes in brain dopamine neuron activity contribute to the behavioral sensitization of the stimulant effects of ethanol.
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In animals, repeated alcohol consumption leading to sensitization results in increased dopaminergic reactivity to alcohol and greater behavioral responsivity.
“In animals, recent findings have shown that repeated alcohol consumption leading to sensitization results in increased dopaminergic reactivity to alcohol (Didone, Masson, Quoilin, Seutin, & Quertemont, 2014), and greater behavioral responsivity (Hoshaw & Lewis, 2001).”
From Cued for Risk: Evidence for an Incentive Sensitization Framework to Explain the Interplay between Stress and Anxiety, Substance Abuse, and Reward Uncertainty in Disordered Gambling Behavior (2019) · cites this paper as Didone, Masson, Quoilin, Seutin, & Quertemont, 2014
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Didone, V., Masson, S., Quoilin, C., Seutin, V., & Quertemont, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Liège (BE)
- Département Psychologie, Cognition et Comportement Université de Liège Liège Belgium
- Venue
- Addiction Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-12-24
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 387-396
- ISSN
- 1355-6215 (ISSN-L)
- 1369-1600
- OpenAlex
- W1912921700
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 1.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Addiction Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) (submittedVersion)
- ORBi (University of Liège) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS)
- Fonds Spéciaux pour la Recherche de l'Université de Liège
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Keywords
- midbrain dopaminergic neurons, ventral tegmental area, sulpiride, locomotor activity, chronic ethanol exposure
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Ethanol, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Central Nervous System Depressants, Female, Motor Activity, Sulpiride, Receptors, Dopamine D2, Ventral Tegmental Area, Autoreceptors, Dopamine Antagonists, Mice, Dopaminergic Neurons, Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists
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