Cellular interactions between social experience, alcohol sensitivity, and GABAergic inhibition in a crayfish neural circuit

We report here that prior social experience modified the behavioral responses of adult crayfish to acute alcohol exposure. Animals housed individually for 1 wk before alcohol exposure were less sensitive to the intoxicating effects of alcohol than animals housed in groups, and these differences are based on changes in the nervous system rather than differences in alcohol uptake. To elucidate the underlying neural mechanisms, we investigated the neurophysiological responses of the lateral giant (LG) interneurons after alcohol exposure. Specifically, we measured the interactions between alcohol and different GABAA-receptor antagonists and agonists in reduced crayfish preparations devoid of brain-derived tonic GABAergic inhibition. We found that alcohol significantly increased the postsynaptic potential of the LG neurons, but contrary to our behavioral observations, the results were similar for isolated and communal animals. The GABAA-receptor antagonist picrotoxin, however, facilitated LG postsynaptic potentials more strongly in communal crayfish, which altered the neurocellular interactions with alcohol, whereas TPMPA [(1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)methylphosphinic acid], an antagonist directed against GABAA-receptors with ρ subunits, did not produce any effects. Muscimol, an agonist for GABAA-receptors, blocked the stimulating effects of alcohol, but this was independent of prior social history. THIP [4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo(5,4-c)pyridin-3-ol], an agonist directed against GABAA-receptors with δ subunits, which were not previously known to exist in the LG circuit, replicated the suppressing effects of muscimol. Together, our findings provide strong evidence that alcohol interacts with the crayfish GABAergic system, and the interplay between prior social experience and acute alcohol intoxication might be linked to changes in the expression and function of specific GABAA-receptor subtypes.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The complex interactions between alcohol and prior social experience are still poorly understood. Our work demonstrates that socially isolated crayfish exhibit lower neurobehavioral sensitivity to acute ethanol compared with communally housed animals, and this socially mediated effect is based on changes in the nervous systems rather than on differences in uptake or metabolism. By combining intracellular neurophysiology and neuropharmacology, we investigated the role of the main inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, and its receptor subtypes, in shaping this process.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:125

Enthalten in:

Journal of neurophysiology - 125(2021), 1 vom: 01. Jan., Seite 256-272

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Venuti, Lucy S [VerfasserIn]
Pena-Flores, Norma L [VerfasserIn]
Herberholz, Jens [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

(1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)methylphosphinic acid
3K9958V90M
Alcohol
Crayfish
Ethanol
GABA Agonists
GABA-A Receptor Antagonists
Gaboxadol
Inhibition
Isoxazoles
Journal Article
K1M5RVL18S
Neurons
Phosphinic Acids
Pyridines
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Social

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 28.10.2021

Date Revised 02.01.2022

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1152/jn.00519.2020

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM31742131X