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Chronic Ethanol Exposures Leads to a Negative Affective State in Female Rats That Is Accompanied by a Paradoxical
Eva C Bach1, James W Morgan2, Sarah E Ewin1
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
|May 17, 2021
Summary
Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure (CIE) differentially affects the hippocampus in male and female rats, influencing anxiety and depression behaviors and neuronal excitability in sex-specific ways. Further research is needed to understand these alcohol use disorder adaptations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Science
- Addiction Research
Background:
- Alcohol use disorder (AUD) exhibits sex-dependent differences in its impact and underlying neural adaptations.
- Previous research identified sex-specific effects of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure on the male rat hippocampus, particularly the ventral hippocampus (vHC).
- The vHC in males showed increased neuronal excitability and anxiety-like behaviors following CIE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate sex-dependent hippocampal adaptations in female rats following chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure.
- To compare the effects of CIE on neuronal excitability, behavior, and protein expression in the hippocampus of female rats versus male rats.
- To elucidate the role of the hippocampus in the sex-specific etiology and treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Main Methods:
- Chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure was administered to female rats.
- Neuronal excitability in the dorsal hippocampus (dHC) and ventral hippocampus (vHC) was assessed.
- Anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors were measured.
- Protein expression levels related to neuronal excitability were analyzed.
Main Results:
- CIE-treated female rats exhibited modest anxiety-like behaviors and robust depressive-like behaviors.
- Contrary to males, female rats showed a decrease, not an increase, in vHC neuronal excitability after CIE.
- No functional changes were observed in the dHC of female rats.
- Altered protein expression did not explain the functional changes in the female vHC.
Conclusions:
- Sex is a critical factor influencing hippocampal adaptations to chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure.
- The ventral hippocampus (vHC) displays distinct sex-dependent functional changes in response to CIE.
- Understanding these gender differences is crucial for developing targeted treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Keywords:
alcohol use disorderchronic intermittent ethanol exposureelectrophysiologyhippocampusnegative affective behavior
