Medial prefrontal cortex-basolateral amygdala circuit dysfunction in chronic alcohol-exposed male rats. 2022

Elizabeth J Crofton, and ManHua Zhu, and Katelin N Curtis, and Gavin W Nolan, and Todd K O'Buckley, and A Leslie Morrow, and Melissa A Herman
Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Psychiatry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, USA.

Alcohol is a commonly used drug that can produce alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Few individuals with AUDs receive treatment and treatment options are complicated by issues with effectiveness and compliance. Alcohol has been shown to differentially affect specific brain regions and an improved understanding of circuit-specific dysregulation caused by alcohol is warranted. Previous work has implicated both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) in alcohol-associated plasticity, however studies directly examining the impact of alcohol exposure on this circuit are lacking. The current study employed an optogenetic strategy to investigate the prelimbic mPFC to BLA circuit and changes in circuit activity following chronic intragastric ethanol exposure in male Sprague Dawley rats. We observed monosynaptic connections with light-evoked stimulation of mPFC terminals in the BLA with efficacy and short latency. We also found that mPFC-BLA projections are primarily glutamatergic under basal inhibitory control, with a lesser population of GABAergic projections. We examined optically-evoked glutamate currents in the BLA using repeated trains of stimulation that displayed accommodation, or a reduction in evoked current amplitude over repeated stimulations. We found that following chronic ethanol exposure mPFC-BLA glutamatergic connections were dysregulated such that there were decreases in overall function, notably in synaptic strength and accommodation, with no change in probability of evoked glutamate release. The lesser GABAergic component of the mPFC-BLA circuit was not altered by chronic ethanol exposure. Collectively these data indicate that mPFC-BLA circuitry is a significant target of alcohol-associated plasticity, which may contribute to pathological behavior associated with AUDs.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009473 Neuronal Plasticity The capacity of the NERVOUS SYSTEM to change its reactivity as the result of successive activations. Brain Plasticity,Plasticity, Neuronal,Axon Pruning,Axonal Pruning,Dendrite Arborization,Dendrite Pruning,Dendritic Arborization,Dendritic Pruning,Dendritic Remodeling,Neural Plasticity,Neurite Pruning,Neuronal Arborization,Neuronal Network Remodeling,Neuronal Pruning,Neuronal Remodeling,Neuroplasticity,Synaptic Plasticity,Synaptic Pruning,Arborization, Dendrite,Arborization, Dendritic,Arborization, Neuronal,Arborizations, Dendrite,Arborizations, Dendritic,Arborizations, Neuronal,Axon Prunings,Axonal Prunings,Brain Plasticities,Dendrite Arborizations,Dendrite Prunings,Dendritic Arborizations,Dendritic Prunings,Dendritic Remodelings,Network Remodeling, Neuronal,Network Remodelings, Neuronal,Neural Plasticities,Neurite Prunings,Neuronal Arborizations,Neuronal Network Remodelings,Neuronal Plasticities,Neuronal Prunings,Neuronal Remodelings,Neuroplasticities,Plasticities, Brain,Plasticities, Neural,Plasticities, Neuronal,Plasticities, Synaptic,Plasticity, Brain,Plasticity, Neural,Plasticity, Synaptic,Pruning, Axon,Pruning, Axonal,Pruning, Dendrite,Pruning, Dendritic,Pruning, Neurite,Pruning, Neuronal,Pruning, Synaptic,Prunings, Axon,Prunings, Axonal,Prunings, Dendrite,Prunings, Dendritic,Prunings, Neurite,Prunings, Neuronal,Prunings, Synaptic,Remodeling, Dendritic,Remodeling, Neuronal,Remodeling, Neuronal Network,Remodelings, Dendritic,Remodelings, Neuronal,Remodelings, Neuronal Network,Synaptic Plasticities,Synaptic Prunings
D002492 Central Nervous System Depressants A very loosely defined group of drugs that tend to reduce the activity of the central nervous system. The major groups included here are ethyl alcohol, anesthetics, hypnotics and sedatives, narcotics, and tranquilizing agents (antipsychotics and antianxiety agents). CNS Depressants,Depressants, CNS
D004195 Disease Models, Animal Naturally-occurring or experimentally-induced animal diseases with pathological processes analogous to human diseases. Animal Disease Model,Animal Disease Models,Disease Model, Animal
D000431 Ethanol A clear, colorless liquid rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body. It has bactericidal activity and is used often as a topical disinfectant. It is widely used as a solvent and preservative in pharmaceutical preparations as well as serving as the primary ingredient in ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. Alcohol, Ethyl,Absolute Alcohol,Grain Alcohol,Alcohol, Absolute,Alcohol, Grain,Ethyl Alcohol
D000437 Alcoholism A primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (Morse & Flavin for the Joint Commission of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism: in JAMA 1992;268:1012-4) Alcohol Abuse,Alcoholic Intoxication, Chronic,Ethanol Abuse,Alcohol Addiction,Alcohol Dependence,Alcohol Use Disorder,Abuse, Alcohol,Abuse, Ethanol,Addiction, Alcohol,Alcohol Use Disorders,Chronic Alcoholic Intoxication,Dependence, Alcohol,Intoxication, Chronic Alcoholic,Use Disorders, Alcohol
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D017207 Rats, Sprague-Dawley A strain of albino rat used widely for experimental purposes because of its calmness and ease of handling. It was developed by the Sprague-Dawley Animal Company. Holtzman Rat,Rats, Holtzman,Sprague-Dawley Rat,Rats, Sprague Dawley,Holtzman Rats,Rat, Holtzman,Rat, Sprague-Dawley,Sprague Dawley Rat,Sprague Dawley Rats,Sprague-Dawley Rats
D017397 Prefrontal Cortex The rostral part of the frontal lobe, bounded by the inferior precentral fissure in humans, which receives projection fibers from the MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS OF THE THALAMUS. The prefrontal cortex receives afferent fibers from numerous structures of the DIENCEPHALON; MESENCEPHALON; and LIMBIC SYSTEM as well as cortical afferents of visual, auditory, and somatic origin. Anterior Prefrontal Cortex,Brodmann Area 10,Brodmann Area 11,Brodmann Area 12,Brodmann Area 47,Brodmann's Area 10,Brodmann's Area 11,Brodmann's Area 12,Brodmann's Area 47,Pars Orbitalis,Frontal Sulcus,Gyrus Frontalis Inferior,Gyrus Frontalis Superior,Gyrus Orbitalis,Gyrus Rectus,Inferior Frontal Gyrus,Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex,Marginal Gyrus,Medial Frontal Gyrus,Olfactory Sulci,Orbital Area,Orbital Cortex,Orbital Gyri,Orbitofrontal Cortex,Orbitofrontal Gyri,Orbitofrontal Gyrus,Orbitofrontal Region,Rectal Gyrus,Rectus Gyrus,Straight Gyrus,Subcallosal Area,Superior Frontal Convolution,Superior Frontal Gyrus,Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex,Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex,Anterior Prefrontal Cortices,Area 10, Brodmann,Area 10, Brodmann's,Area 11, Brodmann,Area 11, Brodmann's,Area 12, Brodmann,Area 12, Brodmann's,Area 47, Brodmann,Area 47, Brodmann's,Area, Orbital,Area, Subcallosal,Brodmanns Area 10,Brodmanns Area 11,Brodmanns Area 12,Brodmanns Area 47,Convolution, Superior Frontal,Convolutions, Superior Frontal,Cortex, Anterior Prefrontal,Cortex, Lateral Orbitofrontal,Cortex, Orbital,Cortex, Orbitofrontal,Cortex, Prefrontal,Cortex, Ventromedial Prefrontal,Cortices, Ventromedial Prefrontal,Frontal Convolution, Superior,Frontal Gyrus, Inferior,Frontal Gyrus, Medial,Frontal Gyrus, Superior,Frontalis Superior, Gyrus,Gyrus, Inferior Frontal,Gyrus, Marginal,Gyrus, Medial Frontal,Gyrus, Orbital,Gyrus, Orbitofrontal,Gyrus, Rectal,Gyrus, Rectus,Gyrus, Straight,Gyrus, Superior Frontal,Inferior, Gyrus Frontalis,Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortices,Olfactory Sulcus,Orbital Areas,Orbital Cortices,Orbital Gyrus,Orbitalis, Pars,Orbitofrontal Cortex, Lateral,Orbitofrontal Cortices,Orbitofrontal Cortices, Lateral,Orbitofrontal Regions,Prefrontal Cortex, Anterior,Prefrontal Cortex, Ventromedial,Prefrontal Cortices, Anterior,Region, Orbitofrontal,Subcallosal Areas,Sulcus, Frontal,Superior Frontal Convolutions,Superior, Gyrus Frontalis,Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortices
D051381 Rats The common name for the genus Rattus. Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus

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