title: Reduction of voluntary alcohol intake in the rat by modulation of the dopaminergic mesolimbic system: transplantation of ventral mesencephalic cell suspensions.
abstract: The dopaminergic mesolimbic system plays a major role in the mechanisms of reward and positive reinforcement, and is also known to be a primary target for the action of substances that are self-administered and are considered drugs of abuse. Even though alcohol administration has been shown, by physiological and pharmacological manipulations, to cause changes in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, it has not yet been determined whether, conversely, experimentally induced changes in this system are effective in regulating the voluntary intake of ethanol. In the present study we assessed the effects of the intrastriatal transplantation of fetal dopaminergic grafts on the regulation of voluntary alcohol intake in the rat. Fetal dopaminergic transplants from ventral mesencephalon--but not dopamine-poor transplants or sham-operated animals--reduced the voluntary intake of ethanol by about 40-50%. These results indicate that the effects obtained are due to the dopaminergic nature of the grafts, and not the consequence of a non-specific effect of the graft, or of the surgical procedure itself. These results support the hypothesis that the dopaminergic mesolimbic system plays an important role in the regulation of the voluntary intake of ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Mechanisms, Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lança
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D016380:Brain Tissue Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008032:Limbic System / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine