Disentangling the Role of Astrocytes in Alcohol Use Disorder

• Several laboratories recently identified that astrocytes are critical regulators of addiction machinery. It is now known that astrocyte pathology is a common feature of ethanol (EtOH) exposure in both humans and animal models, as even brief EtOH exposure is sufficient to elicit long-lasting perturbations in astrocyte gene expression, activity, and proliferation. Astrocytes were also recently shown to modulate the motivational properties of EtOH and other strongly reinforcing stimuli. Given the role of astrocytes in regulating glutamate homeostasis, a crucial component of alcohol use disorder (AUD), astrocytes might be an important target for the development of next-generation alcoholism treatments. This review will outline some of the more prominent features displayed by astrocytes, how these properties are influenced by acute and long-term EtOH exposure, and future directions that may help to disentangle astrocytic from neuronal functions in the etiology of AUD.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Astrocyte

Gliotransmission

Glutamate

Alcohol Use Disorder

glutamate transporter glast

sensitive eaat2 expression

gap-junction

permeability

ventral tegmental area

rat nucleus-accumbens

preferring

p rats

nf-kappa-b

primary cultures

in-vivo

ethanol-consumption

Substance Abuse

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)