Both alcohol and NNK exposures contribute to ALD pathogenesis, including insulin/IGF resistance and inflammation. The differential effects of EtOH and NNK on adduct formation are critical to ALD progression among alcoholics who smoke.

Alcohol use disorder generates devastating social, medical and economic burdens, making it a major global health issue. The persistent nature of memories associated with intoxication experiences often induces cravings and triggers relapse in recovering individuals. Despite recent advances, the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying these memories are complex and not well understood. This makes finding effective pharmacological targets challenging. The investigation of persistent alcohol-associated memories in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, presents a unique opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the memories for ethanol reward at the level of genes, molecules, neurons and circuits. Here we characterize the dose-dependent nature of ethanol on the expression of memory for an intoxication experience. We report that the concentration of ethanol, number of ethanol exposures, length of ethanol exposures, and timing between ethanol exposures are critical in determining whether ethanol is perceived as aversive or appetitive, and in how long the memory for the intoxicating properties of ethanol last. Our study highlights that fruit flies display both acute and persistent memories for ethanol-conditioned odor cues, and that a combination of parameters that determine the intoxication state of the fly influence the seemingly complex retention and expression of memories associated with intoxication. Our thorough behavioral characterization provides the opportunity to interrogate the biological underpinnings of these observed preference differences in future studies.

A powerful feature of adaptive memory is its inherent flexibility. Alcohol and other addictive substances can remold neural circuits important for memory to reduce this flexibility. However, the mechanism through which pertinent circuits are selected and shaped remains unclear. We show that circuits required for alcohol-associated preference shift from population level dopaminergic activation to select dopamine neurons that predict behavioral choice in Drosophila melanogaster. During memory expression, subsets of dopamine neurons directly and indirectly modulate the activity of interconnected glutamatergic and cholinergic mushroom body output neurons (MBON). Transsynaptic tracing of neurons important for memory expression revealed a convergent center of memory consolidation within the mushroom body (MB) implicated in arousal, and a structure outside the MB implicated in integration of naïve and learned responses. These findings provide a circuit framework through which dopamine neuronal activation shifts from reward delivery to cue onset, and provide insight into the maladaptive nature of memory.

Background Alcohol-mediated neurodegeneration is associated with white matter (WM) atrophy due to targeting of myelin and oligodendrocytes. However, variability in disease severity suggests co-factors contribute to WM degeneration. We examined the potential co-factor role of the tobacco-specific nitrosamine, nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone (NNK), since smoking causes WM atrophy and most heavy drinkers consume tobacco products. Methods This 8-week study of Long Evans rats had 4 treatment groups: control; NNK-2 mg/kg, 3×/wk in Wks 3–8; ethanol (chronic-26% caloric + binge-2 g/kg, 3×/week in Wks 7–8); and ethanol+NNK. Exposure effects on WM lipid biochemical profiles and in situ distributions were examined using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) and tandem mass spectrometry. Results NNK mainly caused WM fiber degeneration and fiber loss, ethanol caused demyelination, and dual exposures had additive effects. Ethanol and ethanol+NNK decreased WM (including corpus callosum) and/or gray matter (hypothalamus, cortex, medial temporal) levels of several phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylinositol (PI) and sphingolipid (sulfatide; ST) species, while NNK increased or had minimal effect on these lipids. Ethanol+NNK had broader and larger inhibitory effects on phospholipids and sulfatides than ethanol or NNK alone. Principle component analysis clustered control with NNK, and ethanol with ethanol+NNK groups, highlighting the independent ethanol-rather than NNK-driven responses. Conclusion Chronic ethanol exposures decreased several phospholipid and sphingolipid species in brain, while concomitant NNK exposures exacerbated these effects. These findings support our hypothesis that tobacco smoking is a pathogenic co-factor in alcohol-mediated WM degeneration.

Background. Ethanol, tobacco-specific nitrosamine ketone (NNK), and ethanol+NNK exposures cause steatohepatitis, suggesting that smoking can be a cofactor in alcoholic liver disease. Study design. We used MALDI-TOF imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) to characterize hepatic lipid profiles in steatohepatitis caused by ethanol, NNK, and ethanol+NNK. Results. Ethanol, NNK, and ethanol+NNK increased levels and altered the profiles of hepatic phospholipids. Ethanol caused striking accumulations of m/z 932.7 phosphatidylinositol (PI). NNK increased hepatic levels of PIs with m/z's of 934.8, 960.8, and 962.7. Relative abundance of PIs with m/z's of 857.9 or 883.7 increased progressively from control to NNK, then ethanol, and finally ethanol+NNK, indicating differential and additive effects of these exposures. In contrast, no differences occurred with respect to phosphatidylethanolamine (m/z 766.9), phosphatidylserine (m/z 810.9) or PIs with m/z of 960.8 or 962.7. Principal component analysis generated distinct exposure-related hepatic lipid profiles. Conclusion. MALDI-IMS could serve as a complementary diagnostic aid for differentiating underlying causes of steatohepatitis.

Background Meta-analysis has shown that smokers have significantly increased risks for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and neuroimaging studies showed that smoking alters white matter (WM) structural integrity. Objective Herein, we characterize the effects of cigarette smoke (CS) exposures and withdrawal on WM myelin lipid composition using matrix assisted laser desorption and ionization-imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS). Methods Young adult male A/J mice were exposed to air (8 weeks; A8), CS (4 or 8 weeks; CS4, CS8), or CS8 followed by 2 weeks recovery (CS8 + R). Frontal lobe WM was examined for indices of lipid and protein oxidation and lipid profile alterations by MALDI-IMS. Lipid ions were identified by MS/MS with the LIPID MAPS prediction tools database. Inter-group comparisons were made using principal component analysis and R-generated heatmap. Results CS increased lipid and protein adducts such that higher levels were present in CS8 compared with CS4 samples. CS8 + R reversed CS8 effects and normalized the levels of oxidative stress. MALDI-IMS demonstrated striking CS-associated alterations in WM lipid profiles characterized by either reductions or increases in phospholipids (phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine, or phosphatidylethanolamine) and sphingolipids (sulfatides), and partial reversal of CS’s inhibitory effects with recovery. The heatmap hierarchical dendrogram and PCA distinguished CS exposure, duration, and withdrawal effects on WM lipid profiles. Conclusion CS-mediated WM degeneration is associated with lipid peroxidation, protein oxidative injury, and alterations in myelin lipid composition, including shifts in phospholipids and sphingolipids needed for membrane integrity, plasticity, and intracellular signaling. Future goals are to delineate WM abnormalities in AD using MALDI-IMS, and couple the findings with MRI-mass spectroscopy to improve in vivo diagnostics and early detection of brain biochemical responses to treatment.

Substance use disorders are chronic relapsing disorders often impelled by enduring memories and persistent cravings. Alcohol, as well as other addictive substances, remolds neural circuits important for memory to establish obstinate preference despite aversive consequences. How pertinent circuits are selected and shaped to result in these unchanging, inflexible memories is unclear. Using neurogenetic tools available in Drosophila melanogaster we define how circuits required for alcohol associated preference shift from population level dopaminergic activation to select dopamine neurons that predict behavioral choice. During memory expression, these dopamine neurons directly, and indirectly via the mushroom body (MB), modulate the activity of interconnected glutamatergic and cholinergic output neurons. Transsynaptic tracing of these output neurons revealed at least two regions of convergence: 1) a center of memory consolidation within the MB implicated in arousal, and 2) a structure outside the MB implicated in integration of naïve and learned responses. These findings provide a circuit framework through which dopamine neuron activation shifts from reward delivery to cue onset, and provides insight into the inflexible, maladaptive nature of alcohol associated memories.

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