Increased Anxiety-Like Behavior and Ethanol Self-Administration in Dependent Rats: Reversal via Corticotropin-Releasing Factor-2 Receptor Activation

Background: Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) has been hypothesized to be one of the main regulators of the stress response observed during alcohol withdrawal. The CRF receptor subtypes seem to have a differential role in the regulation of stress-related behavior. Given the behavioral characterization of these receptors, the objective of the following experiments was to characterize the role of CRF2 receptors in the interaction between alcohol and stress by examining the effects of CRF2 receptor activation in the behavioral stress response and ethanol self-administration during early ethanol withdrawal in dependent rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were made dependent on ethanol via chroni…