title: Sensitivity to ethanol-induced motor incoordination in 5-HT(1B) receptor null mutant mice is task-dependent: implications for behavioral assessment of genetically altered mice.
abstract: Neuromuscular impairment by ethanol likely involves complex effects on balance, gait, muscle strength, and other features of motor coordination. The present experiments showed that relative sensitivity to ethanol-induced motor impairment in serotonin 1B (5-HT(1B)) null mutant and control mice was task dependent. We found that ethanol-treated null mutant mice made fewer missteps on a balance beam than did ethanol-treated wild-type mice, and confirmed a previous finding of their lesser ethanol sensitivity in the grid test. The genotypes did not differ in ethanol sensitivity as measured by the screen test, static dowel, fixed-speed rotarod, accelerating rotarod, grip strength, or loss of righting reflex tests. These experiments suggest that within a behavioral domain, alternative tests of function are not equivalent, so multiple assessment tools should be used to avoid misinterpretation of gene function.
authors.affiliation: Portland Alcohol Research Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oregon 97201, USA. boehms@ohsu.edu
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Boehm
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Schafer
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Browman
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Crabbe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D018737:Hand Strength; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects*; D009949:Orientation / Q000187:drug effects; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000187:drug effects*; D044302:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1B; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D044302:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1B; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; D000431:Ethanol