Maternal separation stress and behaviors related to alcohol dependence in mice: assessment of CRFergic neurotransmission

• Grant number: 20/04389-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Cardoso Cruz
• Grantee: Natalia Bonetti Bertagna
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/15505-4 - Neurobiology study of relapse to alcohol and cocaine seeking: identification of plasticity in neuronal ensembles that encodes addiction-related memories, AP.JP2
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/13317-9 - Acute restraint stress during adulthood modulates glutamate release through CRF type 1 receptors in bed nucleus of stria terminalis of male and female mice with history of adolescent alcohol exposure, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Alcohol is a drug of abuse most used worldwide. Vulnerability to the development of addiction can stem from different factors, such as environmental, social and biological. Stress is considered an important environmental factor related to iniciation, maintenance and relapse of drug abuse. Early life stress that occur during childhood may lead to development of psychopathologies in adulthood. In this context, repeated episodes of maternal care deprivation may lead to serious consequences for child's life, promoting lasting behavioral and neuroendocrine changes, such as increased vulnerability to drug abuse in later stages of development. In rodents, the maternal separation model has been considered predictive to demonstrate the effects of early stress exposure on ethanol intake. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying increase in alcohol taking and seeking are not fully understood. It is suggested that stress-induced CRFergic pathway activation may be involved in drug abuse. The aim of this project is to evaluate the neurobiological and behavioral influence of maternal separation stress on alcohol consumption in mice and the correlation between anxiety levals,promoted by this stress and alcohol consumption.

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)

BERTAGNA, NATALIA BONETTI; FAVORETTO, CRISTIANE APARECIDA; RODOLPHO, BEN TAGAMI; PALOMBO, PAOLA; YOKOYAMA, THAIS SUEMI; RIGHI, THAMIRES; LOSS, CASSIO MORAIS; LEAO, RODRIGO MOLINI; MIGUEL, TARCISO TADEU; CRUZ, FABIO CARDOSO. Maternal Separation Stress Affects Voluntary Ethanol Intake in a Sex Dependent Manner. FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY, v. 12, DEC 7 2021. (20/04389-3)