Adolescent but not adult ethanol binge drinking modulates ethanol behavioral effects in mice later in life

摘要

Background: Alcohol use disorder is a serious illness marked by uncontrollable drinking and a negative withdrawal state when not using. Alcohol is one of the most commonly used drugs among adolescent populations. Given that adolescence is a unique developmental stage during which alcohol has long-term effects on future drug-taking behavior; it is essential to understand how early exposure to ethanol during adolescence may affect the abuse liability of the drug later in life. Our studies focused on characterizing how exposure to alcohol in adolescence alters later adult alcohol dependence behaviors, by using well-established mouse models of ethanol drinking. We hypothesized that early exposure to ethanol leads to increased ethanol intake in adults and other behavioral phenotypes that may lead to dependence.