Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on November 18, 2004
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2005 40(1):54-62; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh115
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Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 40, No. 1 © Medical Council on Alcohol 2005; all rights reserved
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
ETHANOL INDUCES HIGHER BEC IN CB1 CANNABINOID RECEPTOR KNOCKOUT MICE WHILE DECREASING ETHANOL PREFERENCE
Biologie du Comportement, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1 Place Croix du Sud, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Biologie du Comportement, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1 Place Croix du Sud, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Tel.: +32 10 474384; Fax: +32 10 474094; E-mail: dewitte{at}bani.ucl.ac.be
(Received 6 August 2004; first review notified 1 September 2004; in revised form 17 September 2004; accepted 1 October 2004)
Aims: Previous studies have shown that CB1 cannabinoid receptors are involved in the behavioural effects induced by chronic ethanol administration in Wistar rats by using SR 141716, a CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonist. These studies have now been extended to investigate the effect of acute and chronic alcoholization on blood ethanol concentration (BEC) and ethanol preference in CB1 knockout (/) mice. Methods: BEC was monitored for a period of 8 h in both
male mice and CB1 male wild-type (+/+) mice, which had received an acute i.p. injection of ethanol in 1, 3 or 5 g/kg doses. Ethanol preference was assayed in both groups of male mice in non-forced ethanol administration and forced chronic pulmonary alcohol administration for 14 and 39 days, respectively. Results: After an acute intraperitoneal ethanol injection of 5 g/kg,
mice showed a significant higher BEC during the ethanol elimination stage than the
mice. However, those in the 1 and 3 g/kg groups showed no significant difference. A 23 fold increase in BEC was observed in
mice on days 10 and 11 after commencement of forced chronic pulmonary alcoholization in comparison with
mice, although comparable BEC values were assayed in both groups on day 12. In addition, these
mice showed a significantly lower preference for ethanol than
mice. Conclusions: The studies on
and
mice have clearly confirmed the involvement of CB1 receptor on ethanol induced behavioural effects and also revealed that CB1 receptors may be implicated in ethanol absorption/distribution, particularly after administration of high ethanol doses.