PMID- 18445109 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20080701 LR - 20080523 IS - 1530-0277 (Electronic) IS - 0145-6008 (Linking) VI - 32 IP - 6 DP - 2008 Jun TI - Innate differences in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the regions within the extended amygdala between alcohol preferring and nonpreferring rats. PG - 909-20 LID - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00650.x [doi] AB - BACKGROUND: Animal lines such as alcohol-preferring (P) and nonpreferring (NP) rats appear to be suitable animal models to investigate the biological basis of alcohol-drinking behaviors. The extended amygdala serves as a neuroanatomical substrate for alcohol-drinking behaviors. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the amygdala has been implicated in alcohol-drinking behaviors; however, its expression in the extended amygdala of P and NP rats is unknown. Therefore, we examined the basal expression of BDNF in the extended amygdala of alcohol naive P and NP rats. METHODS: We determined the basal mRNA and protein levels of BDNF by in situ RT-PCR and immuno-histochemical procedure, respectively, in the amygdaloid [central nucleus of amygdala (CeA), medial nucleus of amygdala (MeA), and basolateral amygdala (BLA)], nucleus accumbal (NAc shell and core), and bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) [lateral BNST (lBNST), medial BNST (mBNST), and ventral BNST (vBNST)] brain structures of P and NP rats. In addition, we examined the localization of BDNF in neurons using double-immunofluorescence labeling of BDNF with neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN) and also determined the number of NeuN-positive neurons in the amygdaloid structures of P and NP rats. RESULTS: The mRNA and protein levels of BDNF were found to be significantly lower in both the CeA and MeA, but not in the BLA, of P compared with NP rats. We also found that BDNF was expressed in neurons in the amygdaloid structures of P and NP rats. In addition, we found that the number of NeuN-positive neurons was similar in the amygdaloid structures of P and NP rats. Interestingly, the mRNA and protein levels of BDNF were also significantly lower in the lBNST, mBNST, and vBNST of P compared with NP rats. On the other hand, mRNA and protein levels of BDNF were similar in the NAc shell and core structures of P and NP rats. CONCLUSIONS: P and NP rats are selectively bred for higher and lower alcohol preference, respectively; therefore it is possible that lower BDNF levels in the amygdaloid and BNST structures may be associated with the excessive alcohol-drinking behaviors of P rats. FAU - Prakash, Anand AU - Prakash A AD - Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. FAU - Zhang, Huaibo AU - Zhang H FAU - Pandey, Subhash C AU - Pandey SC LA - eng GR - AA-010005/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - AA-013341/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - AA-015626/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - AA-016690/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States GR - R24AA015512/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural PT - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. DEP - 20080426 PL - England TA - Alcohol Clin Exp Res JT - Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research JID - 7707242 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (RNA, Messenger) SB - IM MH - Alcohol Drinking/*genetics MH - Alcoholism/genetics MH - Amygdala/*chemistry MH - Animals MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/analysis/*genetics MH - Fluorescent Antibody Technique MH - Food Preferences MH - Gene Expression/*genetics MH - Immunohistochemistry MH - Male MH - Nucleus Accumbens/chemistry MH - RNA, Messenger/analysis MH - Rats MH - Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction MH - Tissue Distribution/genetics EDAT- 2008/05/01 09:00 MHDA- 2008/07/02 09:00 CRDT- 2008/05/01 09:00 PHST- 2008/05/01 09:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2008/07/02 09:00 [medline] PHST- 2008/05/01 09:00 [entrez] AID - ACER650 [pii] AID - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00650.x [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2008 Jun;32(6):909-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00650.x. Epub 2008 Apr 26.