Alcohol and other substance abuse continue to be enormous public health issues. Although major attempts at prevention of abuse are being implemented, better understanding of the genetics and environmental factors that increase risk of alcohol use disorders, the neural circuits that underlie this risk, and the ability to regulate these circuits therapeutically is critically needed. In addressing this critical need, this Researc Resource Core will continue to provide the P/NP and HAD/LAD rats and HAP/LAP and cHAP mice, which have been selectively bred for a high vs low alcohol preference, to investigators around the world. This Core is the outgrowth of over 35 years of experience with selective breeding, maintenance of breeding colonies, and solving problems arising with the logistics and nature of running an operation of this magnitude. We are therefore uniquely qualified to continue to provide these animals to the alcoholism research field, to coordinate the use of the animals to avoid scientific overlap, and to manage issues that could affect their phenotype and associated behaviors in the coming funding period. Addiction has become a disease of co-abuse with the majority of individuals dependent on alcohol often being dependent on other licit, such as nicotine, or illicit, such as stimulants, substances as well. Given this, there are likely common environmental and genetic factors that result in a broad predisposition to the abuse of many substances, as well as alcohol specifically. This resource will continue to characterize these lines (high vs low preference) as animal models of addiction in general, to promote their use in examining the genetic and neurobiological substrates of nicotine (phenotyped in the previous funding period) and cocaine (to be phenotyped in this funding period) as well.
This NIAAA Research Resource Core project will provide rat and mouse lines selectively bred for high vs low alcohol preference to addiction researchers worldwide, and it will test the high vs low preferring rat lines as animal models of intravenous stimulant self-administration.
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