The role of opioidergic system in modulating cost/benefit decision-making in alcohol-preferring AA rats and Wistar rats.

Research has highlighted the association of a positive family history of alcoholism with a positive treatment response to opioid antagonists in those with a gambling disorder. However, the role of the opioidergic system in gambling behavior is not well understood, and preclinical studies are needed to clarify this. In this study, Alko Alcohol (AA) and Wistar rats went through operant lever pressing training where the task was to choose the more profitable of two options.

The selective κ-opioid receptor antagonist JDTic attenuates the alcohol deprivation effect in rats.

The mechanisms behind relapse to ethanol intake in recovering alcoholics are still unclear. The negative reinforcing effects contributing to ethanol addiction, including relapse, are considered to be partly driven by the κ-opioidergic system. As the κ-opioidergic system interacts with the mesolimbic reward pathway, the aim of the study was to clarify the role of nucleus accumbens shell κ-opioidergic mechanisms in relapse to ethanol intake by using the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) paradigm.

The κ-opioid receptor antagonist JDTic decreases ethanol intake in alcohol-preferring AA rats.

Rationale: Studies suggest that the κ-opioidergic system becomes overactivated as ethanol use disorders develop. Nalmefene, a currently approved treatment for ethanol use disorders, may also elicit some of its main effects via the κ-opioidergic system. However, the exact role of κ-opioid receptors on regulating ethanol intake and contribution to the development of ethanol addiction remains to be elucidated.

Amphetamine primes enhanced motivation toward uncertain choices in rats with genetic alcohol preference.

Rationale: Comorbidity with gambling disorder (GD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is well documented.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to examine the influence of genetic alcohol drinking tendency on reward-guided decision making behavior of rats and the impact of dopamine releaser D-amphetamine on this behavior.

Methods: In this study, Alko alcohol (AA) and Wistar rats went through long periods of operant lever pressing training where the task was to choose the profitable of two options.

Dopaminergic modulation of reward-guided decision making in alcohol-preferring AA rats.

R**esults from animal gambling models have highlighted the importance of dopaminergic neurotransmission in modulating decision making when large sucrose rewards are combined with uncertainty. The majority of these models use food restriction as a tool to motivate animals to accomplish operant behavioral tasks, in which sucrose is used as a reward. As enhanced motivation to obtain sucrose due to hunger may impact its reward-seeking effect, we wanted to examine the decision-making behavior of rats in a situation where rats were fed ad libitum.

Accumbal μ-Opioid Receptors Modulate Ethanol Intake in Alcohol-Preferring Alko Alcohol Rats.

Background: The nucleus accumbens shell is a key brain area mediating the reinforcing effects of ethanol (EtOH). Previously, it has been shown that the density of μ-opioid receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell is higher in alcohol-preferring Alko Alcohol (AA) rats than in alcohol-avoiding Alko Non-Alcohol rats. In addition, EtOH releases opioid peptides in the nucleus accumbens and opioid receptor antagonists are able to modify EtOH intake, all suggesting an opioidergic mechanism in the control of EtOH consumption.