# Suppression of ethanol dependence-induced maladaptive appetitive and consummatory behavior by the GLP-1 system

> **NIH AA R01** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2026 · $564,306

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
People in recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) can experience a range of physiological and behavioral
effects during withdrawal. These effects include aberrant food consumption, and increased alcohol drinking and
seeking, which can increase stress and drive relapse. Ethanol dependence appears to dysregulate the glucagon-
like peptide-1 (GLP-1) system, and clinical drugs that target this system are now being investigated for their
ability to reduce food and alcohol intake. While GLP-1 is a gut peptide, it is also a neuropeptide, synthesized by
neurons of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), and its receptor (GLP-1R) is expressed throughout the brain.
Several clinically approved GLP-1R agonist medications cross the blood brain-barrier, and work both peripherally
and centrally. While these medications hold promise, they also induce undesirable side-effects, largely due to
their effects in the hindbrain. Specific targeting of GLP-1Rs in regions of the forebrain could reduce the off-target
effects of GLP-1 medications, while still suppressing aberrant food and alcohol consumption during AUD
recovery. Thus, this proposal is designed to investigate the ability of GLP-1R in discrete CNS circuits to regulate
binge-like food and ethanol intake and relapse during withdrawal. We will model ethanol dependence using
chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure by vapor inhalation to test the overarching hypothesis that withdrawal
from ethanol in the CIE model leads to physiological dysregulation, including dysregulation of the central GLP-1
system and associated disruption in reward taking and seeking. Thus, by increasing GLP-1R activity in the
prefrontal cortex (PFC) and paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT), we can suppress CIE-induced
behavioral dysregulation, including escalated binge-like eating and ethanol drinking, and reinstatement of
seeking for palatable food and ethanol. Aim 1 is to examine the consequences of withdrawal from CIE on binge-
l

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11165947
- **Project number:** 1R01AA031732-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JACQUELINE M BARKER; Jessica Rose Barson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AA
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $564,306
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2026-05-01T00:00:00 → 2031-01-31T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11165947

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11165947, Suppression of ethanol dependence-induced maladaptive appetitive and consummatory behavior by the GLP-1 system (1R01AA031732-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11165947. Licensed CC0.

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