Concomitant stress potentiates the preference for, and consumption of, ethanol induced by chronic pre-exposure to ethanol

Abstract

Ethanol abuse is linked to several acute and chronic injuries that can lead to health problems. Ethanol addiction is one of the most severe diseases linked to the abuse of this drug. Symptoms of ethanol addiction include compulsive substance intake and withdrawal syndrome. Stress exposure has an important role in addictive behavior for many drugs of abuse (including ethanol), but the consequences of stress and ethanol in the organism when these factors are concomitant results in a complex interaction. We investigated the effects of concomitant, chronic administration of ethanol and stress exposure on the withdrawal and consumption of, as well as the preference for, ethanol in mice. Male Swiss mice (30–35 g, 8-10 per group) were exposed to an ethanol liquid diet as the only source of food for 15 days. In the final 5 days, they were exposed to forced swimming stress. Twelve hours after removal of the ethanol liquid diet, animals were evaluated for ethanol withdrawal by measuring anxiety-related behaviors and locomotor activity. Twenty-four hours after evaluation of ethanol withdrawal, they were evaluated for voluntary consumption of ethanol in a “three-bottle choice” paradigm. Mice exposed to chronic consumption of ethanol had decreased locomotor activity during withdrawal. Contrary to our expectations, a concomitant forced swimming stress did not aggravate ethanol withdrawal. Nevertheless, simultaneous ethanol administration and stress exposure increased voluntary consumption of ethanol, mainly solutions containing high concentrations of ethanol. These results showed that stressful situations during ethanol intake may aggravate specific addiction-related behaviors.

Intermittent Ethanol during Adolescence Leads to Lasting Behavioral Changes in Adulthood and Alters Gene Expression and Histone Methylation in the PFC

“…Twenty-four hours after the last ethanol binge, basal anxiety in the light–dark apparatus was similar between ethanol-exposed and control mice. Others have reported withdrawal-induced anxiety in adolescent rats ( Pandey et al, 2015 ; Kyzar et al, 2016 ), although this is not consistently found ( Kiefer et al, 2003 ; Lee et al, 2016 ; Morais-Silva et al, 2016 ). Indeed, some have suggested that adolescent mice are resilient to early ethanol withdrawal ( Lee et al, 2016 ) and it is possible that binge ethanol in adolescence only produces lasting withdrawal-induced anxiety in rats and not mice.…”

Rosuvastatin revert memory impairment and anxiogenic-like effect in mice infected with the chronic ME-49 strain of Toxoplasma gondii

“…Mice were individually placed in the middle of the arena and were allowed to explore freely the apparatus for 5 min. Analysis included measures of the distance travelled in central (central locomotion) and peripheral area (peripheral locomotion), as well as the total distance travelled (i.e., center + periphery) (total locomotion) [ 32 , 33 ].…”

“…Ten min later, the object A’ was replaced by a rectangular object B, and the short-term memory was assessed. The long-term memory was evaluated 24 h later in the same apparatus by changing the object B by a new object, an orange sphere called object C. The same animals were evaluated for short- and long-term memory [ 32 , 33 ].…”

“…For each object, the interaction period was defined as the time while the animal remained in physical contact with the object. Data were presented as the discrimination index, which was determined by time spent on the new object divided by the time spent on both objects [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Involvement of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in cross-sensitization between chronic unpredictable stress and ethanol in adolescent and adult mice

“…Indeed, behavioral crosssensitization is observed between stress and ethanol in both adolescent and adult rodents (for review, see Burke & Miczek, 2014). Stress exposure can raise ethanol intake and preference in both animals (Morais-Silva, Fernandes-Santos, Moreira-Silva, & Marin, 2016;Norman et al, 2015;Quadir et al, 2016) and humans (Sinha, 2001), although some studies have shown no impact of stress or a reduction in ethanol intake when rodents have access to alcohol during or immediately after stress (van Erp & Miczek, 2001;Marianno, Abrahao, & Camarini, 2017). Stress exposure also increases behavioral sensitivity to ethanol (Quadir et al, 2016).…”