# INIA Stress and Chronic Alcohol Interactions: CORE2: Stress-CIE Drinking Mouse Core

> **NIH NIH U24** · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · 2020 · $133,127

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
While the effect of stress on ethanol consumption has been extensively studied in several animal models,
these studies have generally yielded equivocal findings, with results dependent on a number of factors
including the type of stressor used, timing of stress presentation, and initial ethanol preference. During the
current funding period, work conducted in this Core has focused on examining the interaction of stress with
drinking in a model of dependence that involves repeated cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure.
Studies demonstrated that repeated brief forced swim stress (FSS) exposure administered prior to ethanol
drinking sessions produced a significant increase in ethanol drinking in CIE-exposed mice, but did not alter
ethanol intake in nondependent mice. This reliable and robust FSS-induced selective enhancement of drinking
in dependent mice produced a nearly 3-fold increase in blood ethanol levels. Interestingly, other stress
procedures (e.g., restraint, foot-shock, social defeat) did not produce this effect, suggesting that FSS interacts
with CIE exposure in a unique manner to promote further increases in ethanol drinking. Thus, this CIE-FSS
drinking model is ideally suited to evaluate potential medications that may not only reduce excessive
dependence-related drinking, but also temper the ability of stress to further enhance this elevated drinking.
Accordingly, a major function of this Stress-CIE Drinking Mouse Core is to utilize the CIE-FSS Drinking model
as a behavioral platform to evaluate medication effects on ethanol consumption in male and female dependent
and nondependent mice. Medications selected for evaluation are based on their purported ability to target anti-
stress and neuroinflammatory processes implicated in excessive alcohol consumption, thereby enabling the
Core to provide service to the translational objectives of research projects in the INIAstress and
INIAneuroimmune Consortia. Another function of the Core is to distribute brain tissue samples to INIA
investigators to facilitate more comprehensive genomic and neural investigations in relation to the model. This,
in turn, will facilitate new discoveries of potential novel targets and treatment strategies that can be tested in
this Core. Taken together, the proposed research plan for the Stress-CIE Drinking Mouse Core will provide
valuable service to the INIAstress and INIAneuroimmune Consortia, as well as the general alcohol research
field. The overall goal of the Stress-CIE Drinking Mouse Core is to facilitate and aid in the identification and
development of new treatment approaches for reducing stress-related excessive drinking and, more broadly,
alcohol use disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9858158
- **Project number:** 5U24AA020929-09
- **Recipient organization:** MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
- **Principal Investigator:** Marcelo F. Lopez
- **Activity code:** U24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $133,127
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-02-10 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9858158

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9858158, INIA Stress and Chronic Alcohol Interactions: CORE2: Stress-CIE Drinking Mouse Core (5U24AA020929-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9858158. Licensed CC0.

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