Sex differences in binge-like EtOH drinking, corticotropin-releasing hormone and corticosterone: effects of β-endorphin.

ABSTRACT: Binge drinking is an increasingly common pattern of risky use associated with numerous health problems, including alcohol use disorders. Because low basal plasma levels of β-endorphin (β-E) and an increased β-E response to alcohol are evident in genetically at-risk human populations, this peptide is thought to contribute to the susceptibility for disordered drinking. Animal models suggest that the effect of β-E on consumption may be sex-dependent. Here, we studied binge-like EtOH consumption in transgenic mice possessing varying levels of β-E: wild-type controls with 100% of the peptide (β-E +/+), heterozygous mice constitutively modified to possess 50% of wild-type levels (β-E +/-) and mice entirely lacking the capacity to synthesize β-E (-/-). These three genotypes and both sexes were ev

SUBMITTER: Nentwig TB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6082742 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature