title: Effects of chronic swim stress on EtOH-related behaviors in C57BL/6J, DBA/2J and BALB/cByJ mice.
abstract: There is a strong clinical relationship between stress and stress-related disorders and the incidence of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and this relationship appears to be partly genetic in origin. There are marked strain differences in ethanol (EtOH)-related behaviors and reactivity to stress, but little investigation of the interaction between the two. The present study assessed the effects of chronic exposure to swim stress on EtOH-related behavior in three common inbred strains of mice, C57BL/6J, DBA/2J and BALB/cByJ. After establishing baseline (10%) EtOH self-administration in a two-bottle free choice test, mice were exposed to daily swim stress for 14 consecutive days and EtOH consumption was measured as a percent of baseline both during stress and for 10 days afterwards. A separate experiment examined the effects of 14 days of swim stress on sensitivity to the sedative/hypnotic effects of an acute injection of 4g/kg EtOH. Results showed that stress produced a significant decrease in EtOH consumption, relative to pre-stress baseline, in DBA/2J and BALB/cByJ, but not C57BL/6J mice. By contrast, stress increased sensitivity to the sedative/hypnotic effects of EtOH in all three strains. These findings demonstrate that chronic swim stress produces reductions in EtOH self-administration in a strain-dependent manner, and that these effects may be restricted to strains with a pre-existing aversion to EtOH. Present data also demonstrates a dissociation between effects of this stressor on EtOH self-administration and sensitivity to EtOH's sedative/hypnotic effects. In conclusion, strain differences, that are likely in large part genetic in nature, modify the effects of this stressor on EtOH's effects in a behavior-specific manner.
authors.affiliation: Section on Behavioral Science and Genetics, Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, MD, USA. janel.boyce-rustay@abbott.com
authors.forename: Janel M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Boyce-Rustay
authors.forename: Alicia L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Janos
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holmes
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D012646:Self Administration / Q000523:psychology; D013045:Species Specificity; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology