title: Hyposensitivity to gamma-aminobutyric acid in the ventral tegmental area during alcohol withdrawal: reversal by histone deacetylase inhibitors.
abstract: Putative dopaminergic (pDAergic) ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons have an important role in alcohol addiction. Acute ethanol increases the activity of pDAergic neurons, and withdrawal from repeated ethanol administration produces a decreased sensitivity of pDAergic VTA neurons to GABA. Recent studies show that behavioral changes induced by chronic alcohol are reversed by inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs). Whether HDAC-induced histone modifications regulate changes in GABA sensitivity of VTA pDAergic neurons during withdrawal is unknown. Here, we investigated modulation of withdrawal-induced changes in GABA sensitivity of pDAergic VTA neurons by HDAC inhibitors (HDACi), and also measured the levels of HDAC2, histone (H3-K9) acetylation, and GABA-Aα1 receptor (GABA (A-α1) R) subunit in VTA during ethanol withdrawal. Mice were injected intraperitoneally (ip) with either ethanol (3.5 g/kg) or saline twice daily for 3 weeks. In recordings from pDAergic VTA neurons in brain slices from ethanol-withdrawn mice, sensitivity to GABA (50-500 μM) was reduced. In brain slices from ethanol-withdrawn mice incubated with the HDACi SAHA (vorinostat) or trichostatin A (TSA) for 2 h, the hyposensitivity of pDAergic VTA neurons to GABA was significantly attenuated. There was no effect of TSA or SAHA on GABA sensitivity of pDAergic VTA neurons from saline-treated mice. In addition, ethanol withdrawal was associated with an increase in levels of HDAC2 and a decrease in histone (H3-K9) acetylation and levels of GABA (A-α1) R subunits in the VTA. Therefore, blockade of upregulation of HDAC2 by HDACi normalizes GABA hyposensitivity of pDAergic neurons developed during withdrawal after chronic ethanol treatment, which suggests the possibility that inhibition of HDACs can reverse ethanol-induced neuroadaptational changes in reward circuitry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60612-7342, USA.
authors.forename: Devinder S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Sudarat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nimitvilai
authors.forename: Tara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Teppen
authors.forename: Maureen A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McElvain
authors.forename: Amul J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sakharkar
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Subhash C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Brodie
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D056464:Histone Deacetylase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006877:Hydroxamic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000378:metabolism; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000077337:Vorinostat; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: C546241:Gabra1 protein, mouse; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D006657:Histones; D006877:Hydroxamic Acids; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D000431:Ethanol; C012589:trichostatin A; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D000077337:Vorinostat; C533426:Hdac2 protein, rat; D056464:Histone Deacetylase 2