The offspring of rats selected for high or low ethanol intake at adolescence exhibit differential stress-induced ethanol intake at adulthood

FERNANDEZ M.; FERREYRA, A.; CHINER, F.; PAUTASSI R.M.

Cordoba

Congreso; IX International meeting of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA); 2019

Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA)

THE OFFSPRING OF RATS SELECTED FOR HIGH OR LOW ETHANOL INTAKE AT ADOLESCENCE EXHIBIT DIFFERENTIAL STRESS-INDUCED ETHANOL INTAKE AT ADULTHOODFERNÁNDEZ, M.a; FERREYRA, Aa,b ; CHINER, Fb, & PAUTASSI, R. M.a,baInstituto de Investigación Médica M. y M. Ferreyra, INIMEC-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, C.P. 5000, ArgentinabFacultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, C.P. 5000, Argentinamacarenasoledadfernandez@gmail.comAlcohol (ethanol) use is ubiquitous in adolescents, yet only some of them transition from regular to problematic drinking. It is important to understand why the risk for problematic drinking varies across sub-groups of adolescents. We had previously executed a short-term selection program to generate Wistar rat lines (high and low adolescent ethanol drinking, ADHI and ADLO lines, respectively) that significantly differ in ethanol drinking at adolescence. To date, the long-term effects of this selection (i.e., when tested at adulthood) were unknown. The present study reports the results of a second cohort of rats selectively bred, in the short term, for low or high alcohol drinking at adolescence. In this study, we tested the S0 generation and filial generations 1 (S1), S2, and S3 of ADHI and ADLO offspring for basal or stress-induced ethanol intake at adulthood. The effects of the selection, conducted at adolescence, were observed at adulthood, well beyond the adolescent stage in which the selection was conducted: S1-ADHI but not S1-ADLO male rats exhibited stress-induced drinking. These findings indicate that genetic risk of enhanced ethanol intake at young age is still present at adulthood, long after the developmental window when the interbreeding occurred. Exposure to stress at adulthood triggers the vulnerability associated with this genetic risk, an effect associated with enhanced inborn anxiety.Keywords: etanol, selected line, stress, adolescents.