Biomedical subjects

Rainer Spanagel

Publications and source records attributed to Rainer Spanagel.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Alcohol self-administration in two rat lines selectively bred for extremes in anxiety-related behavior.

According to the tension reduction hypothesis, individuals with an elevated anxiety level may be more sensitive to the anxiolytic effects of alcohol and may, therefore, have a higher predisposition to consume alcohol. To examine this hypothesis, we studied the drinking behavior as well as the sensitivity to the anxiolytic effect of alcohol in two rat lines that were bred and selected for differences in anxiety-related behavior on the elevated plus-maze: the extremely anxious HAB (high anxiety-related behavior) and the non-anxious LAB (low anxiety-related behavior) lines. Alcohol self-administration and the occurrence of an alcohol deprivation effect were studied in female and male HAB and LAB rats in a free-choice, 4-bottle home cage paradigm. The sensitivity of HAB and LAB rats to the anxiolytic effect of alcohol was assessed by testing their behavior on the elevated plus-maze after an acute application of ethanol. During the first days of voluntary ethanol drinking, the ethanol intake and preference of female LABs was significantly higher than that of female HABs. Although not statistically significant, the same trend could be seen in male LABs. Moreover, male as well as female LAB but not HAB rats showed a significant alcohol deprivation effect after abstinence. There were no differences when saccharin was presented to naive animals, indicating that the different ethanol drinking behavior of HAB and LAB rats does not represent a general difference in the consumption of new liquids. Application of ethanol resulted in an anxiolytic effect in HAB but not in LAB rats on the elevated plus-maze. In summary, increased inborn anxiety and voluntary ethanol consumption of HAB and LAB rats were correlated to some extent; however, this relationship was a negative one. It is concluded that, although such a relationship might exist in some individuals, increased levels of inborn anxiety and alcohol consumption are not necessarily related.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Strain-specific responses of inbred mice to ethanol following food shortage.

Specific inbred mouse strains such as C57BL/6J and DBA/2J show differences in consumption of and reaction on drugs of abuse. For example, C57BL/6J mice voluntarily consume greater amounts of ethanol than DBA/2J mice. Recently, it could be shown that a short environmental experience--12 days of food shortage followed by a recovery period--has a strong impact on strain-specific reactions to amphetamine. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether food shortage experience has an effect on ethanol responses. The effect of a period of 12 days food restriction which resulted in a weight loss of 20% body weight and which was followed by a complete recovery period was studied on ethanol self-administration and ethanol-induced locomotor activity in C57BL/6Ico and DBA/2Ico inbred mouse strains. The experience of food shortage led to a higher ethanol intake and preference in C57BL/6Ico mice compared to control animals without food shortage experience. In contrast DBA/2Ico showed no difference in ethanol intake or preference following this experience. The effect of ethanol onto locomotor activity of both mice strains was affected only in the case of DBA/2Ico mice, where food shortage experience resulted in a significantly higher ethanol-induced locomotor activity. The present data show that in inbred mouse strains environmental experiences can have a strong impact onto the effects of ethanol. In conclusion, in the field of preclinical alcohol research gene x environment interactions in specific inbred mouse strains can contribute strongly to the outcome of studies and more specifically food shortage can profoundly affect the outcome of alcohol studies in mice.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Challenges to medications development in treating alcohol dependence: an international perspective.

Few medications for treating alcohol dependence exist. Greater partnership is needed between academia and the pharmaceutical industry to develop, licence and market efficacious medications for treating alcohol dependence. Methodologies that span the divide between preclinical and large-scale clinical studies need to be developed in order to provide sufficient information on safety, toleration, drug-interaction profile and efficacy, with which to guide development decisions. Due to the heterogeneous nature of alcohol dependence, the effort of developing an efficacious medication is likely to be enhanced by clearer choices about the characteristics of the population. Careful consideration of potential mechanism of action of the putative therapeutic medication should enable the appropriate choice of drinking endpoint. The pharmaceutical industry in collaboration with academia might need to develop new approaches to determining appropriate treatment endpoints with regulatory bodies. The investment risk to industry should be appraised not only in terms of the rather poor results of previous marketing efforts but with a view to the opportunity to penetrate a potentially enormous and largely untapped market.

Alcoholism↗