Premium
Acute Effects of Acamprosate and MPEP on Ethanol Drinking‐in‐the‐Dark in Male C57BL/6J Mice
Author(s) -
Gupta Tripta,
Syed Yaqoob M.,
Revis Andrew A.,
Miller Samantha A.,
Martinez Marina,
Cohn Kellen A.,
Demeyer Michael R.,
Patel Kevin Y.,
Brzezinska Weronika J.,
Rhodes Justin S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00787.x
Subject(s) - acamprosate , metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 , ethanol , chemistry , metabotropic receptor , glutamate receptor , metabotropic glutamate receptor , pharmacology , antagonist , medicine , biochemistry , receptor , naltrexone
Background: Recently, a simple procedure in mice, Drinking‐in‐the‐Dark (DID), was hypothesized to have value for medication development for human alcoholism. In DID, mice are offered intermittent, limited access to ethanol over a series of days during the dark phase that results in rapid drinking to intoxication in predisposed genotypes. Methods: We measured the effects of acamprosate or MPEP, metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor (mGluR5) antagonist, on intake of 20% ethanol, plain tap water or 10% sugar water using the DID procedure in male C57BL/6J mice. Results: Acamprosate (100, 200, 300, or 400 mg/kg) dose dependently decreased ethanol drinking with 300 mg/kg reducing ethanol intake by approximately 20% without affecting intake of plain water or 10% sugar water. MPEP (1, 3, 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg) was more potent than acamprosate with 20 mg/kg reducing ethanol intake by approximately 20% and for longer duration without affecting intake of plain water or 10% sugar water. Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that mGluR5 signaling plays a role in excessive ethanol intake in DID and suggest DID may have value for screening novel compounds that reduce overactive glutamate signaling for potential pharmaceutical treatment of excessive ethanol drinking behavior.