title: Innate BDNF expression is associated with ethanol intake in alcohol-preferring AA and alcohol-avoiding ANA rats.
abstract: We have shown recently that acute administration of ethanol modulates the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in several rat brain areas known to be involved in the development of addiction to ethanol and other drugs of abuse, suggesting that BDNF may be a factor contributing to the neuroadaptive changes set in motion by ethanol exposure. The purpose of the present study was to further clarify the role of BDNF in reinforcement from ethanol and in the development of addiction to ethanol by specifying the effect of acute administration of ethanol (1.5 or 3.0 g/kg i.p.) on the expression profile of BDNF mRNA in the ventral tegmental area and in the terminal areas of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway in the brain of alcohol-preferring AA and alcohol-avoiding ANA rats, selected for high and low voluntary ethanol intake, respectively. The level of BDNF mRNA expression was higher in the amygdala and ventral tegmental area of AA than in those of ANA rats, and there was a trend for a higher level in the nucleus accumbens. In the amygdala and hippocampus, a biphasic change in the BDNF mRNA levels was detected: the levels were decreased at 3 and 6h but increased above the basal levels at 24h. Furthermore, there was a difference between the AA and ANA lines in the effect of ethanol, the ANA rats showing an increase in BDNF mRNA levels while such a change was not seen in AA rats. These findings suggest that the innate levels of BDNF expression may play a role in the mediation of the reinforcing effects of ethanol and in the control of ethanol intake.
authors.affiliation: Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction, National Institute for Health and Welfare, POB 30, Helsinki 00271, Finland.
authors.forename: Noora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raivio
authors.affiliation: Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction, National Institute for Health and Welfare, POB 30, Helsinki 00271, Finland.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miettinen
authors.affiliation: Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction, National Institute for Health and Welfare, POB 30, Helsinki 00271, Finland. Electronic address: kalervo.kiianmaa@thl.fi.
authors.forename: Kalervo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiianmaa
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000378:metabolism*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Addiction; BDNF; Ethanol; Selected rat lines