Synchrony between midbrain gene transcription and dopamine terminal regulation is modulated by chronic alcohol drinking.

ABSTRACT: Alcohol use disorder is marked by disrupted behavioral and emotional states which persist into abstinence. The enduring synaptic alterations that remain despite the absence of alcohol are of interest for interventions to prevent relapse. Here, 28 male rhesus macaques underwent over 20 months of alcohol drinking interspersed with three 30-day forced abstinence periods. After the last abstinence period, we paired direct sub-second dopamine monitoring via ex vivo voltammetry in nucleus accumbens core with RNA-sequencing of the ventral tegmental area. We found persistent augmentation of dopamine transporter function, kappa opioid receptor sensitivity, and putative dynorphin release - all inhibitory regulators which act to decrease extracellular dopamine. Surprisingly, though transcript express

SUBMITTER: Farahbakhsh ZZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11850823 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature