Affective Disruption During Forced Ethanol Abstinence in C57BL/6J and C57BL/6NJ Mice

Background In alcohol-dependent individuals, acute alcohol withdrawal results in severe physiological disruption, including potentially lethal central nervous system hyperexcitability. Although benzodiazepines successfully mitigate such symptoms, this treatment does not significantly reduce recidivism rates in postdependent individuals. Instead, persistent affective disturbances that often emerge weeks to months after initial detoxification appear to play a significant role in relapse risk; however, it remains unclear whether genetic predispositions contribute to their emergence, severity, and/or duration. Interestingly, significant genotypic and phenotypic differences have been observed among distinct C57BL/6 (B6) substrains, and, in particular, C57BL/6J (B6J) mice have been found to reliably exhibit higher voluntary ethanol (EtOH) intake and EtOH preference compared to several C57BL/6N (B6N)-derived substrains. To date, however, B6 substrains have not been directly compared on measures of acute withdrawal severity or affective-behavioral disruption during extended abstinence. Methods Male and female B6J and B6NJ mice were exposed to either a 7-day chronic intermittent EtOH vapor (CIE) protocol or to ordinary room air in inhalation chambers. Subsequently, blood EtOH concentrations and handling-induced convulsions were evaluated during acute withdrawal, and mice were then tested weekly for affective behavior on the sucrose preference test, light-dark box test, and forced swim test throughout 4 weeks of (forced) abstinence. Results Despite documented differences in voluntary EtOH intake between these substrains, we found little evidence for substrain differences in either acute withdrawal or long-term abstinence between B6J and B6NJ mice. Conclusions In B6J and B6NJ mice, both the acute and long-term sequelae of EtOH withdrawal are dependent on largely nonoverlapping gene networks relative to those underlying voluntary EtOH drinking.