Individual vulnerability to escalated aggressive behavior by a low dose of alcohol: decreased serotonin receptor mRNA in the prefrontal cortex of male mice

Low to moderate doses of alcohol consumption induce heightened aggressive behavior in some, but not all individuals. Individual vulnerability for this nonadaptive behavior may be determined by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors with the sensitivity of alcohol's effects on brain...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genes, brain and behavior brain and behavior, 2010-02, Vol.9 (1), p.110-119
Main Authors: Chiavegatto, S., Quadros, I. M. H., Ambar, G., Miczek, K. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
5‐HT1B receptor
aggression
Aggression - drug effects
amygdala
Amygdala - metabolism
Animals
Behavior, Animal - drug effects
Corpus Striatum - metabolism
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Ethanol - administration & dosage
gene expression
Hippocampus - metabolism
hypothalamus
Hypothalamus - metabolism
Male
Mesencephalon - metabolism
Mice
midbrain
Prefrontal Cortex - metabolism
Protein Isoforms - genetics
real‐time PCR
Receptors, Serotonin - genetics
Receptors, Serotonin - metabolism
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Self Administration
serotonin
Tissue Distribution
transcription
violence
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Low to moderate doses of alcohol consumption induce heightened aggressive behavior in some, but not all individuals. Individual vulnerability for this nonadaptive behavior may be determined by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors with the sensitivity of alcohol's effects on brain and behavior. We used a previously established protocol for alcohol oral self‐administration and characterized alcohol‐heightened aggressive (AHA) mice as compared with alcohol non‐heightened (ANA) counterparts. A week later, we quantified mRNA steady state levels of several candidate genes in the serotonin [5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT)] system in different brain areas. We report a regionally selective and significant reduction of all 5‐HT receptor subtype transcripts, except for 5‐HT3, in the prefrontal cortex of AHA mice. Comparable gene expression profile was previously observed in aggressive mice induced by social isolation or by an anabolic androgenic steroid. Additional change in the 5‐HT1B receptor transcripts was seen in the amygdala and hypothalamus of AHA mice. In both these areas, 5‐HT1B mRNA was elevated when compared with ANA mice. In the hypothalamus, AHA mice also showed increased transcripts for 5‐HT2A receptor. In the midbrain, 5‐HT synthetic enzyme, 5‐HT transporter and 5‐HT receptors mRNA levels were similar between groups. Our results emphasize a role for postsynaptic over presynaptic 5‐HT receptors in mice which showed escalated aggression after the consumption of a moderate dose of alcohol. This gene expression profile of 5‐HT neurotransmission components in the brain of mice may suggest a vulnerability trait for alcohol‐heightened aggression.
ISSN:1601-1848
1601-183X
DOI:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2009.00544.x