Browsing by Subject "AA-rat"

Ethanol intake and the use of several drugs of abuse lead to the activation of the endogenous opioid system which has an important role in reward and reinforcement. Ethanol can affect also many other neurotransmitter systems, for example the dopaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic systems. The ability of opioid antagonists to decrease ethanol intake refers to the important role of the opioidergic system in mediating the reinforcement from ethanol. Important brain areas in the mesolimbic reward system are the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum. The ventral pallidum is regarded as the endpoint of the mesolimbic reward system and as the cross point of the motivational circuit and reward circuit. The role of the ventral pallidum and its GABAergic and opioidergic systems in ethanol reinforcement has been proven in many studies. This review goes through the brain areas involved in the reward circuit and ethanol's effects on the neurotransmitter systems connected to the reward system. This review concentrates especially on the opioidergic system and on the role of the ventral pallidum in ethanol reinforcement. The aim of this study was to research the role µ-opioid receptors in the ventral pallidum on ethanol intake using an ethanol-preferring AA (Alko, Alcohol) rat line. The hypothesis of the study was that local inhibition of the ventral pallidum with an excess of µ-opioid receptors effects ethanol intake. We infused µ-opioid receptor gene overexpressing viral vectors (AAV-MOR), control vectors or vehicle into the ventral pallidum of rats. Ethanol drinking of the rats was examined in the limited access paradigm. After the ethanol drinking study rats received injections of an opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone (0.1 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg, s.c) and an opioid receptor agonist, morphine (3 mg/kg, repeatedly, s.c) before the ethanol drinking session to see what effect the drugs have on ethanol drinking. The biological activity of the viral vectors was confirmed with immunohistochemical staining and qPCR. In the ethanol drinking study there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. Naltrexone 0.1 mg/kg dose decreased statistically significantly ethanol drinking only in AAV-MOR group and caused statistically significant difference in ethanol drinking between the AAV-MOR and control vector groups when proportionate to the control. These results suggest that possibly part of to that naltrexone's ethanol intake decreasing effects are mediated via the ventral pallidum. Morphine did not cause statistically significant differences in ethanol drinking between the groups. The results of this study do not exclude the role of the ventral pallidum in controlling ethanol drinking.