Alcohol dependence in adolescent mice in a model that considers pre-exposure and alcohol deprivation effect

• Grant number: 12/17228-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2013
• End date: April 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Rosana Camarini
• Grantee: Priscila Fernandes Carrara Do Nascimento
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Alcohol dependence is a public health problem. In adolescents it becomes particularly worrying since the earlier the beginning of drug use, the greater the probability that an individual becomes dependent in adulthood. Data resulting of the Doctorate demonstrate that animals previously exposed to alcohol (during adolescence) present several behavioral and neurochemical alterations compared to adult ones: decreased sensitivity to behavioral sensitization; increase in glutamate release in the nucleus accumbens; increased dopamine renovation in the nucleus accumbens; increase in cAMP in the striatum, especially when the animal receives an alcohol injection after withdrawal; increased vulnerability to associate environmental clues to the rewarding effect of alcohol in the conditioned place preference apparatus and increased vulnerability to relapse in the self-administration. In this context, we realize the necessity of developing a model that considers the several aspects of addiction and that is accepted by the scientific community. The model purposed considers the acquisition of voluntary consumption in a two bottle choice paradigm with deprivation periods and re-exposure to alcohol. Withdrawal symptoms will be experimentally quantified in deprivation phases. The experiment will be conducted in adolescent and adult animals and will allow the study of previous exposure to alcohol (during adolescence) in the acquisition of consumption behavior, maintenance and relapse, as well as the severity of abstinence in those animals. The purposed model will constitute a research line that will allow pharmacological and non-pharmacological interferences in order to explore the mechanisms and possible therapeutic strategies related to alcohol dependence in adolescents. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARRARA-NASCIMENTO, PRISCILA F.; HOFFMANN, LUCAS B.; CONTO, MARCOS B.; MARCOURAKIS, TANIA; CAMARINI, ROSANA. Ethanol Sensitization during Adolescence or Adulthood Induces Different Patterns of Ethanol Consumption without Affecting Ethanol Metabolism. FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE, v. 11, MAR 23 2017. (12/10260-7, 12/17228-1)

CARRARA-NASCIMENTO, PRISCILA FERNANDES; HOFFMANN, LUCAS BARBOSA; FLORIO, JORGE CAMILO; PLANETA, CLEOPATRA SILVA; CAMARINI, ROSANA. Effects of Ethanol Exposure During Adolescence or Adulthood on Locomotor Sensitization and Dopamine Levels in the Reward System. FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE, v. 14, MAR 6 2020. (12/17228-1, 15/02397-0, 12/10260-7, 17/11987-1, 18/05038-0)