Changes in Dopamine Transporter and c‐Fos Expression in the Nucleus Accumbens of Alcohol‐Tolerant Rats

Abstract

The findings suggested that an abnormality of the dopaminergic neurons in the ACC that are involved with DAT dysfunction is associated with the development of alcohol tolerance.

Candidate Genes for Alcohol Dependence: A Review of Genetic Evidence From Human Studies

“…Animal studies have found that chronic alcohol consumption alters DAT functioning, suggesting involvement of DAT in the development of alcohol tolerance (Yoshimoto et al, 2000). A small number of groups have investigated the role of DAT in alcohol dependence.…”

Acute Ethanol Decreases Dopamine Transporter Velocity in Rat Striatum: In Vivo and In Vitro Electrochemical Measurements

“…Measurements of DAT activity in human alcoholics have revealed decreases (Laine et al, 1999) or no change (Volkow et al, 1996) during withdrawal. Measurements in rodents chronically treated with ethanol show increases (Rothblat et al, 2001), decreases (Yoshimoto et al, 2000), or no change (Quadros et al, 2002) in DAT activity. Likewise, acute ethanol administration to rodents has been reported to increase (Wang et al, 1997), decrease (Lin and Chai, 1995), or not affect (Budygin et al, 2001;Yim and Gonzales, 2000) DAT activity.…”

Behavioral and neuronal interactions between exercise and alcohol: Sex and genetic differences

“…11,25 Furthermore, rats with access to voluntary wheel running and alcohol-dependent rats exhibited increased NAc Fos expression, suggesting both alcohol and exercise increase NAc neuronal activity. 11,26 However, administration of alcohol directly into the NAc of a rat had no effect on extracellular dopamine levels. 29,30 Together, these studies suggest that alcohol works by facilitating the firing of dopaminergic neurons from the VTA to the NAc via a disinhibitory mechanism involving the reduction of potassium currents in the VTA.…”

“…20,21 Both alcohol consumption and exercise activate the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system through increases in dopamine concentrations and dopamine receptor binding. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][22][23][24][25][26] Dopamine signaling is widely used as a "marker" for measuring feelings of reward. 27 One approach to measuring mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system activation is to quantify levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), which is the rate-limiting factor in dopamine synthesis.…”