# Microglia and Adolescent Susceptibility to Developing an Alcohol Use Disorder

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2021 · $421,080

## Abstract

Alcohol use and abuse often begins in adolescence where many factors collide to promote
excessive intake. Most striking though is that those who drink during adolescence - specifically
before age 15 - are four times more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder in adulthood. This
suggests that alcohol impacts the adolescent brain in such a way to make it more susceptible to
developing an alcohol use disorder. Indeed, the adolescent brain is more susceptible to brain
damage due to alcohol, which has led several groups to examine subsequent neuroinflammatory
signaling in alcohol use disorders. A hallmark of neuroinflammation is microglial activation.
Microglia are one of the three types of non-neuronal, glia cells in the brain that act as the brain’s
immune system, but their role in alcohol use disorders is poorly understood. Microglia display a
full spectrum of phenotypes from beneficial to cytotoxic and the phenotype of these microglia after
alcohol exposure has not been defined. Further, microglia may become “primed” by an event,
then upon subsequent challenge they aggressively over-respond, a phenomenon intertwined with
their phenotype. Microglia priming appears to be more evident in development, where early life
exposure to immune insult has long-term consequences on a variety of adult outcomes. Thus,
the priming or activation of microglia by alcohol during adolescent development may result in long
term consequences. Therefore, the overarching hypothesis of this proposal is that young
adolescents are more to susceptible to microglia priming by alcohol versus adults and that alcohol
priming produces long term effects on alcohol-induced neuropathology and addiction-relevant
behavior. We will test this hypothesis through three specific aims that (1) determine the
adolescent’s susceptibility to alcohol-induced effects on microglia, (2) examine whether
adolescents have a greater susceptibility to alcohol priming microglia and (3) elucidate the role of
microglia priming in addiction-relevant behavior. By understanding the events that prime the
adolescent brain to be susceptible to developing an alcohol use disorders, better interventions
and treatments can be developed so that we can reduce the incidence of alcohol use disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10227964
- **Project number:** 5R01AA025591-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Kimberly Nixon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $421,080
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10227964

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10227964, Microglia and Adolescent Susceptibility to Developing an Alcohol Use Disorder (5R01AA025591-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10227964. Licensed CC0.

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