0000000000431969
AUTHOR
M Venniro
Sexually dimorphic effects of alcohol self-administration on cognitive processes
Chronic alcohol consumption is able to modify cognitive and emotional behaviour in humans. Many studies on gender diversity have identified swingeing differences between man and woman, not only in the propensity for alcohol abuse, but also in their behavioural effects. In this study we investigate in adult male and female rats: i) alcohol drinking behaviour and preference pattern using a 3-bottle choice paradigm with water, 10% ethanol solution and white wine (10%v/v), along a four-week period; ii) Alcohol free access (AFA) effects on locomotion and behavioural reactivity in the Open Field; iii) The influence of AFA on spatial learning and reference memory, employing the Morris Water Maze. …
Evaluation of neuropeptide Y expression during acetaldehyde withdrawal in rats. Focus on hippocampus and nucleus accumbens
Stress-related neuropeptides are involved in setting up alcohol addiction. Ethanol is able to acutely induce CRH and ACTH release, while cronically a dampered response of the hypothalamus -pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis has been observed. Also neuropeptide Y (NPY) has been shown to modulate ethanol consumption, and its central expression seems inversely correlated to ethanol intake. Recent in vivo and in vitro evidence have highlighted the key role of acetaldehyde (ACD), ethanol first metabolite, as a mediator of the central effects of ethanol, even as modulator of the neuropeptidergic transmission in the rat brain. The aim of this study was to investigate NPY immunoreactivity following a 4-…