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. 2006 Dec 3;551(1-3):71-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2006.08.071. Epub 2006 Sep 8.

mGlu5 receptors are involved in the discriminative stimulus effects of self-administered ethanol in rats

Joyce Besheer  1 , Rebekah A Stevenson, Clyde W Hodge
Affiliations

mGlu5 receptors are involved in the discriminative stimulus effects of self-administered ethanol in rats

Joyce Besheer et al. Eur J Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Recent work has identified a role for metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGlu(5)) in the discriminative stimulus properties of investigator-administered ethanol. The purpose of this study was to determine if mGlu(5) receptors modulate the discriminative stimulus properties of self-administered ethanol. Results show that the mGlu(5) receptor antagonist 6-Methyl-2-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP; 10 mg/kg) inhibited the discriminative stimulus properties of consumed ethanol during a self-administration test session. Further, 10 mg/kg MPEP increased and 1 mg/kg MPEP decreased the amount of self-administered ethanol required to produce full substitution. These results indicate that mGlu(5) receptors are involved in the expression of the discriminative stimulus properties of self-administered ethanol.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sucrose-only test sessions (10% sucrose)
Mean (± S.E.M.) percentage of ethanol-appropriate responses (Panel A), and cumulative sucrose consumed (mean ml ± S.E.M.; Panel B) at each MPEP dose. Sweetened-ethanol test sessions (10% Sucrose/10% Ethanol): Mean (± S.E.M.) percentage of ethanol-appropriate responses (Panel C), cumulative ethanol intake (mean g/kg ± S.E.M.; Panel D) and cumulative ethanol intake (mean g/kg ± S.E.M.) at the time of full substitution for the ethanol training dose (1 g/kg; Panel E) at each MPEP dose. + P<0.05 saline vs. 1 mg/kg MPEP; * P<0.05 saline vs. 10 mg/kg MPEP. Horizontal dashed line indicates threshold for ethanol substitution (i.e., >80%).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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