ArticleAlcoholism, clinical and experimental research2008
Ethanol enhances GABAergic transmission onto dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the rat.
Article in Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers.
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alcohol Facilitates Social Dominance Via Activating Dopamine 1 Receptor-expressing Neurons in the Lateral Septum of Male Mice.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Synaptic Effects Induced by Alcohol.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Chronic ethanol exposure in mice evokes pre- and postsynaptic deficits in GABAergic transmission in ventral tegmental area GABA neurons.British journal of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Regulator of G protein signaling 6 (RGS6) in dopamine neurons promotes EtOH seeking, behavioral reward, and susceptibility to relapse.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Shared Mechanisms of GABAergic and Opioidergic Transmission Regulate Corticolimbic Reward Systems and Cognitive Aspects of Motivational Behaviors.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- The serotonin 2A receptor agonist TCB-2 attenuates heavy alcohol drinking and alcohol-induced midbrain inhibitory plasticity.Addiction biology · 2022Article
- Moderate ethanol drinking is sufficient to alter Ventral Tegmental Area dopamine neurons activity via functional and structural remodeling of GABAergic transmission.Neuropharmacology · 2022Article
- Neurobiological Bases of Alcohol Consumption After Social Stress.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2022Article
- Multidimensional Intersection of Nicotine, Gene Expression, and Behavior.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021Article
- Differential sensitivity of human neurons carrying μ opioid receptor (MOR) N40D variants in response to ethanol.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2020Article
- Behavioral, neurobiological, and neurochemical mechanisms of ethanol self-administration: A translational review.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 2020Review
- Dose-dependent induction of CPP or CPA by intra-pVTA ethanol: Role of mu opioid receptors and effects on NMDA receptors.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2020Article
- High Ethanol and Acetaldehyde Inhibit Glutamatergic Transmission in the Hippocampus of Aldh2-Knockout and C57BL/6N Mice: an In Vivo and Ex Vivo Analysis.Neurotoxicity research · 2020Article
- Histamine, histamine HBritish journal of pharmacology · 2020Review
- Nicotine and alcohol: the role of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in drug reinforcement.The European journal of neuroscience · 2019Review
- Optogenetic investigation of neural mechanisms for alcohol-use disorder.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2019Review
- Opposing actions of CRF-R1 and CB1 receptors on VTA-GABAergic plasticity following chronic exposure to ethanol.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Article
- Central adenosine ABritish journal of pharmacology · 2018Article
- Adolescent Nicotine Exposure Alters GABACell reports · 2018Article
- Convergent Neuronal Plasticity and Metaplasticity Mechanisms of Stress, Nicotine, and Alcohol.Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology · 2018Review
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundActivation of the dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) by ethanol has been implicated in its rewarding and reinforcing effects. At most central synapses, ethanol generally increases inhibitory synaptic transmission; however, no studies have explored the effect of acute ethanol on GABAergic transmission in the VTA.
methodsWhole-cell patch clamp recordings of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) from VTA-DA neurons in midbrain slices from young rats.
resultsAcute exposure of VTA-DA neurons to ethanol (25 to 50 mM) robustly enhanced GABAergic spontaneous and miniature IPSC frequency while inducing a slight enhancement of spontaneous IPSC (sIPSC) amplitude. Ethanol (50 mM) enhanced paired-pulse depression of evoked IPSCs, further suggesting enhanced GABA release onto VTA-DA neurons. The frequency of sIPSCs was suppressed by the GABA(B) agonist, baclofen (1.25 microM) and enhanced by the antagonist, SCH50911 (20 microM); however, neither appeared to modulate or occlude the effects of ethanol on sIPSC frequency.
conclusionsThe present results indicate that ethanol increases postsynaptic GABA(A) receptor sensitivity, enhances action potential-independent GABA release onto VTA-DA neurons, and that this latter effect is independent of GABA(B) auto-receptor inhibition of GABA release.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.