Reduced Levels of mGlu2 Receptors within the Prelimbic Cortex Are Not Associated with Elevated Glutamate Transmission or High Alcohol Drinking.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A Grm2 cys407* stop codon mutation, which results in a loss of the metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu2) receptor protein, was identified as being associated with high alcohol drinking by alcohol-preferring (P) rats. The objectives of the current study were to characterize the effects of reduced levels of mGlu2 receptors on glutamate transmission and alcohol drinking.

Methods

Quantitative no-net-flux microdialysis was used to test the hypothesis that basal extracellular glutamate levels in the prelimbic (PL) cortex and nucleus accumbens shell (NACsh) will be higher in P than Wistar rats. A lentiviral-delivered short-hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated knockdown was used to test the hypothesis that reduced levels of mGlu2 receptors within the PL cortex will increase voluntary

SUBMITTER: Ding ZM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5659915 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature