Development of tolerance to alcohol is thought to reflect a critical sign of problematic alcohol involvement, and is included as one of the diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence in the DSM IV. Yet little is known of the relationship between tolerance development and levels of alcohol consumption, although it has been speculated that emergence of tolerance to aversive effects of ethanol may permit greater consumption, increasing alcohol exposure levels and concomitant problems. Exploring the relationship between ethanol tolerance and consumption is particularly critical during adolescence, with 12-21 yr. olds not only drinking substantially more per drinking occasion than adults, but also reporting a higher incidence of ethanol tolerance than any other age group. The studies outlined in this proposal will explore this relationship using a simple and well characterized animal model of adolescence in the rat, a model that is typified by 2-3 fold high levels of ethanol consumption, expression of markedly more acute tolerance (and under some instances, chronic tolerance), and an attenuated sensitivity to various aversive effects of alcohol when animals in this developmental phase are compared with adults. The proposed work will explore the development of acute and chronic tolerance to various aversive effects of ethanol and the relationships of these adaptations to ethanol consumption during the adolescent period and following comparable manipulations in adulthood. Neural systems influencing these adaptations and whether these adaptations are causal for elevated ethanol consumption during adolescence will also be explored. Work in this proposal will answer the following questions: What are the relationships among the emergence of acute, rapid and chronic tolerance for various aversive effects of ethanol in adolescents and adults (Sp.
Aim 1) ? Do chronic exposure regimens sufficient to induce chronic tolerance to these ethanol effects lead to increases in voluntary ethanol consumption in home cage and limited access tests, with this increased consumption being particularly marked in adolescence (Sp.
Aim 2) ? What role do NMDA and opioid receptor subsystems play in the emergence of acute and chronic tolerance to ethanol during adolescence (Sp.
Aim 3) ? And, finally, are the adaptive changes associated with chronic tolerance development causal for increasing ethanol consumption in adolescence (Sp.
Aim 4) ? The proposed work will not only provide convincing evidence as to whether the emergence of chronic tolerance to ethanol leads to increases in its consumption, but will also illuminate the relationships among acute, rapid and chronic tolerance and the role of tolerance development in contributing to the elevated ethanol consumption and the insensitivity to various aversive effects of ethanol characteristic of adolescence. ? ?

Public Health Relevance

Development of alcohol tolerance is viewed as a sign of problematic alcohol involvement and is one of the criteria used to diagnose alcohol dependence, yet little is know of the relationship between tolerance development and levels of alcohol consumption. Exploring tolerance/consumption relationships is particularly critical during adolescence, given that 12-21 yr. olds not only drink substantially more per drinking occasion than adults, but they also report a higher incidence of alcohol tolerance than any other age group. The studies outlined in this proposal will use a simple and well-characterized animal model of adolescence in the rat to compare different forms of tolerance and how they change developmentally, explore the neural substrates of these adaptations to alcohol, and determine whether tolerance development is causal for inducing the high levels of alcohol consumption characteristic of the adolescent period. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01AA018026-01
Application #
7591500
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAA1-CC (03))
Program Officer
Grandison, Lindsey
Project Start
2008-09-30
Project End
2013-08-31
Budget Start
2008-09-30
Budget End
2009-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$337,667
Indirect Cost
Name
State University of NY, Binghamton
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
090189965
City
Binghamton
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
13902
Doremus-Fitzwater, Tamara L; Spear, Linda P (2016) Reward-centricity and attenuated aversions: An adolescent phenotype emerging from studies in laboratory animals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 70:121-134
Fernández, Macarena Soledad; Fabio, María Carolina; Miranda-Morales, Roberto Sebastián et al. (2016) Age-related effects of chronic restraint stress on ethanol drinking, ethanol-induced sedation, and on basal and stress-induced anxiety response. Alcohol 51:89-100
Saalfield, Jessica; Spear, Linda (2015) Consequences of repeated ethanol exposure during early or late adolescence on conditioned taste aversions in rats. Dev Cogn Neurosci 16:174-182
Spear, Linda Patia (2015) Adolescent alcohol exposure: Are there separable vulnerable periods within adolescence? Physiol Behav 148:122-30
Broadwater, Margaret; Spear, Linda P (2014) Consequences of adolescent or adult ethanol exposure on tone and context fear retention: effects of an acute ethanol challenge during conditioning. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 38:1454-60
Varlinskaya, Elena I; Truxell, Eric; Spear, Linda P (2014) Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence: effects on social behavior and ethanol sensitivity in adulthood. Alcohol 48:433-44
Vetreno, Ryan P; Broadwater, Margaret; Liu, Wen et al. (2014) Adolescent, but not adult, binge ethanol exposure leads to persistent global reductions of choline acetyltransferase expressing neurons in brain. PLoS One 9:e113421
Broadwater, Margaret A; Spear, Linda P (2014) Tone conditioning potentiates rather than overshadows context fear in adult animals following adolescent ethanol exposure. Dev Psychobiol 56:1150-5
Spear, Linda Patia (2014) Adolescents and alcohol: acute sensitivities, enhanced intake, and later consequences. Neurotoxicol Teratol 41:51-9
Broadwater, Margaret; Spear, Linda P (2013) Consequences of ethanol exposure on cued and contextual fear conditioning and extinction differ depending on timing of exposure during adolescence or adulthood. Behav Brain Res 256:10-9

Showing the most recent 10 out of 29 publications