Effects of ethanol on the induction of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) mRNA in the mouse brown adipose tissue.

Expression of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) is increased by cold acclimation and overfeeding, and reduced in fasting and genetic obesity. It is known that the mitochondrial UCP1 in the brown adipose tissue (BAT) is an important key molecule for non-shivering thermogenesis. On the other hand, ethanol (EtOH) alters thermoregulation in humans and laboratory animals.

Pharmacological studies of alcohol susceptibility and brain monoamine function in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) and stroke-resistant spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSR).

Differences of alcohol drinking behavior, brain dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) levels and releases in the striatum were investigated in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) and age-matched stroke-resistant spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSR). Voluntary alcohol (EtOH) consumption in SHRSP rats increased at 1 and 2 hours in the 4 hour time access. In the DA level, SHRSP showed decreases in the caudate-putamen (C/P) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) compared with in SHRSR.

The age of drinking onset and housing condition influences rat alcohol drinking behavior.

We investigated whether age of drinking onset and/or the housing condition in experimental animals affected alcohol drinking behavior to extrapolate the experimental findings to alcohol drinking patterns of aged people. At the time of the experiments, all 1-, 4-, 10- and the 16-month-old rats were divided into two groups, isolated and aggregated groups, and then maintained in the same housing conditions for six months. The amounts of voluntary alcohol consumption (g/kg/day) of all rats were investigated by two-bottle methods at 7, 10, 16 and 22 months old.