Using High Drinking in the Dark (HDID) mice as an animal model to identify drugs to reduce alcohol binge-like drinking

One characteristic of nearly all abusive alcohol drinking is the tendency to drink in binges, defined by the NIAAA as a pattern leading to blood alcohol levels (BALs)> 0.08% (i.e., exceeding the legal limit for driving) during a period of approximately 2 hr. We bred two mouse lines that drink to intoxication and reach high BALs (> 0.14%) after 2-4 hr access to alcohol early during their circadian dark period. Here we show that HDID mice fail to reduce drinking or BALs after drugs that reduce intake in other drinking models (e.g., naltrexone and several experimental drugs).

Source: Alcohol - May 1, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Angela R. Ozburn, Amanda M. Barkley-Levenson, Pamela Metten, John C. Crabbe Source Type: research