Ketamine inoculation immediately after forced ethanol abstinence blocks the development of time-dependent affective disturbances

Withdrawal from chronic alcohol administration produces affective disturbances that may promote alcohol use disorders. Recent studies have shown that female C57BL/6J mice undergoing contingent two-bottle choice ethanol administration for six-weeks develop significant affective disturbances in depressive-like but not anxiety-like behavior after two-weeks of forced abstinence that is acutely reversed by the antidepressant ketamine. Here we show 1) that the protection via ketamine is sensitive to the CB1 antagonist rimonabant, and 2) that anxiety-like behaviors are present within the early phase of forced abstinence.
Source: Alcohol - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research