Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.

Causal links between early-life stress, genes and later psychiatric diagnoses are not possible to fully address in human studies. Animal models therefore provide an important complement in which conditions can be well controlled and are here used to study and distinguish effects of early-life stress...

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Main Authors: Sara Palm, Loudin Daoura, Erika Roman, Ingrid Nylander
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3788749?pdf=render
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author Sara Palm
Loudin Daoura
Erika Roman
Ingrid Nylander
author_facet Sara Palm
Loudin Daoura
Erika Roman
Ingrid Nylander
author_sort Sara Palm
collection DOAJ
description Causal links between early-life stress, genes and later psychiatric diagnoses are not possible to fully address in human studies. Animal models therefore provide an important complement in which conditions can be well controlled and are here used to study and distinguish effects of early-life stress and alcohol exposure. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of rearing conditions on behaviour in young rats and if these changes could be followed over time and to examine interaction effects between early-life environment and adolescent alcohol drinking on behaviour and immunoreactive levels of the opioid peptides dynorphin B, met-enkephalin-Arg(6)Phe(7) and beta-endorphin. We employed a rodent model, maternal separation, to study the impact of rearing conditions on behaviour, voluntary alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced effects. The consequences of short, 15 min (MS 15), and long, 360 min (MS 360), maternal separation in combination with adolescent voluntary alcohol consumption on behaviour and peptides were examined. A difference in the development of risk taking behaviour was found between the MS15 and MS360 while the development of general activity was found to differ between intake groups. Beta-endorphin levels in the pituitary and the periaqueductal gray area was found to be higher in the MS15 than the MS360. Adolescent drinking resulted in higher dynorphin B levels in the hippocampus and higher met-enkephalin-Arg(6)Phe(7) levels in the amygdala. Amygdala and hippocampus are involved in addiction processes and changes in these brain areas after adolescent alcohol drinking may have consequences for cognitive function and drug consumption behaviour in adulthood. The study shows that individual behavioural profiling over time in combination with neurobiological investigations provides means for studies of causality between early-life stress, behaviour and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.
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spelling doaj.art-df89d31b821644be86ba42b8a85655f12022-12-21T18:22:12ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-01810e7659110.1371/journal.pone.0076591Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.Sara PalmLoudin DaouraErika RomanIngrid NylanderCausal links between early-life stress, genes and later psychiatric diagnoses are not possible to fully address in human studies. Animal models therefore provide an important complement in which conditions can be well controlled and are here used to study and distinguish effects of early-life stress and alcohol exposure. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of rearing conditions on behaviour in young rats and if these changes could be followed over time and to examine interaction effects between early-life environment and adolescent alcohol drinking on behaviour and immunoreactive levels of the opioid peptides dynorphin B, met-enkephalin-Arg(6)Phe(7) and beta-endorphin. We employed a rodent model, maternal separation, to study the impact of rearing conditions on behaviour, voluntary alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced effects. The consequences of short, 15 min (MS 15), and long, 360 min (MS 360), maternal separation in combination with adolescent voluntary alcohol consumption on behaviour and peptides were examined. A difference in the development of risk taking behaviour was found between the MS15 and MS360 while the development of general activity was found to differ between intake groups. Beta-endorphin levels in the pituitary and the periaqueductal gray area was found to be higher in the MS15 than the MS360. Adolescent drinking resulted in higher dynorphin B levels in the hippocampus and higher met-enkephalin-Arg(6)Phe(7) levels in the amygdala. Amygdala and hippocampus are involved in addiction processes and changes in these brain areas after adolescent alcohol drinking may have consequences for cognitive function and drug consumption behaviour in adulthood. The study shows that individual behavioural profiling over time in combination with neurobiological investigations provides means for studies of causality between early-life stress, behaviour and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3788749?pdf=render
spellingShingle Sara Palm
Loudin Daoura
Erika Roman
Ingrid Nylander
Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.
PLoS ONE
title Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.
title_full Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.
title_fullStr Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.
title_full_unstemmed Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.
title_short Effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence.
title_sort effects of rearing conditions on behaviour and endogenous opioids in rats with alcohol access during adolescence
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3788749?pdf=render
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