Chronic treatment with prazosin or duloxetine lessens concurrent anxiety-like behavior and alcohol intake: evidence of disrupted noradrenergic signaling in anxiety-related alcohol use.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alcohol use disorders have been linked to increased anxiety, and enhanced central noradrenergic signaling may partly explain this relationship. Pharmacological interventions believed to reduce the excitatory effects of norepinephrine have proven effective in attenuating ethanol intake in alcoholics as well as in rodent models of ethanol dependence. However, most preclinical investigations into the effectiveness of these drugs in decreasing ethanol intake have been limited to acute observations, and none have concurrently assessed their anxiolytic effects. The purpose of these studies was to examine the long-term effectiveness of pharmacological interventions presumed to decrease norepinephrine signaling on concomitant ethanol self-administration and anxiety-like behavior

SUBMITTER: Skelly MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4128029 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature