Modulation of Gpr39, a G-protein coupled receptor associated with alcohol use in non-human primates, curbs ethanol intake in mice.

ABSTRACT: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic condition with devastating health and socioeconomic effects. Still, pharmacotherapies to treat AUD are scarce. In a prior study aimed at identifying novel AUD therapeutic targets, we investigated the DNA methylome of the nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) of rhesus macaques after chronic alcohol use. The G-protein coupled receptor 39 (GPR39) gene was hypermethylated and its expression downregulated in heavy alcohol drinking macaques. GPR39 encodes a Zn²⁺-binding metabotropic receptor known to modulate excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, the balance of which is altered in AUD. These prior findings suggest that a GPR39 agonist would reduce alcohol intake. Using a drinking-in-the-dark two bottle choice (DID-2BC) model, we showed that an a

SUBMITTER: Cuzon Carlson VC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6461847 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature