PMID- 16441270 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20060703 LR - 20181203 IS - 0145-6008 (Print) IS - 0145-6008 (Linking) VI - 30 IP - 2 DP - 2006 Feb TI - BIG news in alcohol addiction: new findings on growth factor pathways BDNF, insulin, and GDNF. PG - 214-21 AB - In recent years, it has become clear that growth factors are not only critical for the development of the central nervous system (CNS) but may also be important contributors to other neuronal functions in the adult brain. This symposium, presented at the 2005 RSA meeting, discussed evidence to support the hypothesis that alterations in growth factor pathways produce dramatic changes in the effects of alcohol on the CNS. The 4 speakers showed that the behavioral effects of alcohol in the adult are regulated by 3 growth factors, insulin, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Dr. Wolf from the Heberlein laboratory presented findings obtained from genetic manipulations in Drosophila melanogaster, demonstrating that the insulin pathway controls sensitivity to the intoxicating effects of alcohol. Marian Logrip from the Ron and Janak laboratories presented evidence obtained in rodents that low concentrations of alcohol increase the expression of BDNF in the brain to regulate alcohol consumption. Dr. Pandey showed that amygdalar BDNF regulates alcohol's anxiolytic effects and preference. Finally, Dr. Janak presented evidence that increases in the expression of GDNF in the midbrain reduce alcohol self-administration in rats. FAU - Janak, Patricia H AU - Janak PH AD - Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. FAU - Wolf, Fred W AU - Wolf FW FAU - Heberlein, Ulrike AU - Heberlein U FAU - Pandey, Subhash C AU - Pandey SC FAU - Logrip, Marian L AU - Logrip ML FAU - Ron, Dorit AU - Ron D LA - eng GR - AA10005/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - AA10035/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - AA13105/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - AA13341/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - F31AA015462/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - R01 AA014366/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States PT - Congress PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PT - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. PL - England TA - Alcohol Clin Exp Res JT - Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research JID - 7707242 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (Insulin) SB - IM MH - Alcoholism/genetics/*physiopathology MH - Animals MH - Brain/*physiopathology MH - Brain Mapping MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*physiology MH - Drosophila melanogaster MH - Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*physiology MH - Humans MH - Insulin/*physiology MH - Mice MH - Rats MH - Research EDAT- 2006/01/31 09:00 MHDA- 2006/07/04 09:00 CRDT- 2006/01/31 09:00 PHST- 2006/01/31 09:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2006/07/04 09:00 [medline] PHST- 2006/01/31 09:00 [entrez] AID - ACER26 [pii] AID - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00026.x [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006 Feb;30(2):214-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00026.x.