title: The long pursued Holy Grail of the true "alcoholic" rat.
abstract: An anthology of microdialysis and electrophysiological studies on ethanol effect on mesolimbic dopaminergic neurons is presented. The usefulness of rats with innate preference for ethanol, such as the Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP), in studying ethanol rewarding and reinforcing effects is signaled. The generation of the long sought "alcoholics rat" from sP rats is announced. Rats of the sP line avoid the shortcomings of using rats non selected for ethanol preference.
authors: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Neuroscience and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Cagliari, and Neuroscience Institute, Section of Cagliari, National Research Council of Italy, S.S. 554, km. 4, 500 I-09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy. Electronic address: lgessa@unica.it.
authors: Gian Luigi
authors: GL
authors: Gessa
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051381:Rats; D012201:Reward; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Addiction; Dopamine; Electrophysiology; Ethanol; Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats; Ventral tegmental area