Long-term ethanol self-administration by the nonhuman primate, Macaca fascicularis, decreases the benzodiazepine sensitivity of amygdala GABA(A) receptors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Rodent models of chronic alcohol exposure are typically constrained to relatively short periods of forced ethanol due to the lifespan of these animals. Nonhuman primate models, particularly those employing long-term self-administration, are conceptually more similar to human alcoholic individuals.

Methods

We performed whole-cell patch clamp recordings on acutely dissociated amygdala neurons isolated from cynomolgus macaque coronal temporal lobe slices. Slices were prepared from control monkeys or monkeys allowed to self-administer oral ethanol for 18 months. Flunitrazepam and acute ethanol modulation of currents gated by exogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) application was assessed in these isolated neurons. Complementary experiments were performed on amygdala

SUBMITTER: Anderson NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2288551 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature