Both ketamine and NBQX attenuate alcohol drinking in male Wistar rats

The devastating consequences of alcohol-use disorder (AUD) on the individual and the society are well established. Current treatments of AUD encompass various strategies, all of which have only modest effectiveness. Hence, there is a critical need to develop more efficacious therapies. Recently, specific glutamatergic receptors have been identified as potential novel targets for intervention in AUD. Thus, the current study was designed to evaluate the effects of acute administration of sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, as well as NBQX, an AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist on alcohol intake and its possible behavioural consequences. Adult male Wistar rats were trained in drinking in dark paradigm (3 weeks), and following stable alcohol intake, ketamine, NBQX as well as their combination were injected prior to a 90 min drinking session. In addition to alcohol intake, sucrose preference (overnight), and locomotor activity and forced swim test (FST) were also evaluated before and following alcohol intake. Both doses of ketamine (5 and 10 mg/kg) and NBQX (5 and 10 mg/kg) significantly attenuated percent alcohol intake. The combination of the higher dose of ketamine and NBQX, however, did not significantly affect percent alcohol intake. Moreover, animals exposed to alcohol showed decreased sucrose intake (reflective of anhedonia), decreased locomotor activity and swimming in the FST (reflective of helplessness), that were not affected by ketamine and/or NBQX. These results suggest that selective antagonism of the NMDA or AMPA/kainate receptors may be of therapeutic potential in AUD.