# The Impact of Patterned Feeding of a Palatable Diet on Excessive Alcohol Drinking

> **NIH NIH SC3** · XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2020 · $106,500

## Abstract

Summary:
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) presents a significant social and economic burden to modern society. Notably,
impaired physiological and metabolic status observed in alcoholic patients adversely affects treatment
outcome. Furthermore, many alcoholics are malnourished and resultant nutritional deficiencies may
contribute to the pathology of alcoholism. However, nutrition is often overlooked as an important treatment
component for AUD. Our preliminary data indicate that a patterned feeding (produced by an intermittent
availability) of a nutritionally complete palatable diet (NPD), a treatment that does not influence body weight
or composition, induces anxiolytic behavior and attenuates alcohol intake in non-dependent rodents, which
has important clinical implications in the management of AUD. However, a critical first step involves
determining if such dietary intervention would be successful in regulating alcohol intake in preclinical models
of AUD. Addressing these critical questions is important to understand the role of compromised nutritional
status in regulating various symptoms associated with this multifaceted disorder. P-line of rats has been shown
to display proposed criteria (e.g., voluntary excessive and relapse-like alcohol drinking and the emergence of
alcohol dependence following chronic alcohol exposure) to be considered as a suitable animal model for
studying AUD. The objective of this application is to evaluate excessive and relapse-like alcohol consumption in
the alcohol-preferring (P) and non-preferring (NP) rats following patterned feeding of NPD. In addition, we
will also determine the underlying behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms mediating the effects of our
feeding paradigm. Aim 1 will examine the impact of patterned feeding of NPD on non-dependent excessive and
relapse-like alcohol drinking behavior. Aim 2 will evaluate the effect of a similar dietary approach on alcohol
dependence-induced negative emotional states, escalated alcohol intake and neurobiological changes in the
cortico-striatal circuitry. Aim 3 will examine the role of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurotensin signaling
in regulating effects of NPD on alcohol drinking. The central prediction is that patterned feeding of NPD
attenuates problematic alcohol consumption and negative emotional states in rodent’s models of AUD by
recruiting mPFC neurotensin signaling. This hypothesis is supported by our preliminary data and work of
others. Treating metabolic deficiencies present in the alcoholic condition is a significant conceptual innovation
as none of the currently approved approaches target both altered nutritional and emotional states associated
with AUD. In addition to restoring nutritional deficits, exposure to NPD could also serve to restore emotional
state thereby enhancing other behavioral and pharmacological strategies for the management of alcoholism
which will facilitate the pathway to abstinence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9858379
- **Project number:** 5SC3GM127173-02
- **Recipient organization:** XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** Sunil Sirohi
- **Activity code:** SC3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $106,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9858379

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9858379, The Impact of Patterned Feeding of a Palatable Diet on Excessive Alcohol Drinking (5SC3GM127173-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9858379. Licensed CC0.

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