ArticlePharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior2018
Naltrexone alters alcohol self-administration behaviors and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in a sex-dependent manner in rats.
Article in Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preclinical and clinical sex differences in the effects of alcohol on measures of brain dopamine: a systematic review.Biology of sex differences · 2025Pooled it
- The contributions of taste cues to ethanol responses in female and male rats.Physiology & behavior · 2025Article
- Operant ethanol self-administration behaviors do not predict sex differences in continuous access home cage drinking.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Inhibition of the Sodium-Calcium Exchanger Reverse Mode Activity Reduces Alcohol Consumption in Rats.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- A Review of the Characteristics of Clinical Trials and Potential Medications for Alcohol Dependence: Data Analysis from ClinicalTrials.gov.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Influence of chronic administration of morphine and its withdrawal on the behaviour of zebrafish.Journal of biosciences · 2023Article
- Mediation of the behavioral effects of ketamine and (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine in mice by kappa opioid receptors.Psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Paternal alcohol exposure reduces acquisition of operant alcohol self-administration and affects Bdnf DNA methylation in male and female offspring.Addiction biology · 2022Article
- Translational opportunities in animal and human models to study alcohol use disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2021Review
- The GABAPsychopharmacology · 2021Article
- A Runner's High for New Neurons? Potential Role for Endorphins in Exercise Effects on Adult Neurogenesis.Biomolecules · 2021Review
- Pre-training naltrexone increases conditioned fear learning independent of adolescent alcohol consumption history.Physiology & behavior · 2021Article
- Effects of ethanol, naltrexone, nicotine and varenicline in an ethanol and nicotine co-use model in Sprague-Dawley rats.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Article
- Sex differences in the effect of bupropion and naltrexone combination on alcohol drinking in mice.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe mu-opioid antagonist, naltrexone (NTX), is a FDA-approved treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD); however, the data on whether it differentially affects males vs. females are mixed. NTX increases hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity that associates with subjective responses to alcohol and craving in individuals with AUD. The present study tested for sex differences in the ability of NTX to decrease appetitive and consummatory behaviors in rats in operant alcohol self-administration. Because the opioid system and HPA axis are sexually dimorphic, we examined NTX's effect on adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) levels.
methodsMale and female Sprague-Dawley rats (n's = 6-8) were trained to lever press for alcohol (10% v/v) under a fixed-ratio 2 schedule of reinforcement. NTX doses (0, 0.1-10 mg/kg) were assessed in tests conducted under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Separate groups of alcohol and water drinking rats (n's = 8) were used to assess NTX's (10 mg/kg) effects on HPA axis hormones.
resultsNTX decreased consummatory behaviors for alcohol in a dose-related manner, but not appetitive behaviors in males. In females, NTX decreased appetitive behaviors for alcohol in a dose-dependent manner, but only decreased consummatory behaviors at the highest (10 mg/kg) NTX dose. NTX increased ACTH levels in alcohol drinking females in diestrus, but not in other groups. However, NTX increased CORT levels for longer durations in alcohol drinking males relative to alcohol drinking females in diestrus.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that NTX selectively reduces consummatory behaviors for alcohol in males and appetitive behaviors in females, while also showing differential sex effects on HPA hormones.
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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.