Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

1173

Date

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Psychology

Committee Chair

Melloni Cook

Committee Member

Helen Sable

Committee Member

James Murphy

Abstract

We hypothesized that the endocannabinoid antagonist AM251 would significantly reduce ethanol self-administration in a paradigm that facilitates binge-pattern drinking behaviors using C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice. We used an EOD (every other day) design in which mice have 24 hour access to an ethanol solution every other day for two weeks. Our results show that B6 mice receiving injections of AM251 drank significantly less ethanol than control B6 mice, but not less than those in the vehicle only and WIN groups. This suggests that AM251 may reduce ethanol consumption in B6 mice. The results also show that ethanol consumption can vary significantly over time within the EOD drinking paradigm; however, these indistinct patterns do not align with the gradual increase in ethanol consumption seen in other research. Our findings indicate that eCBs may be useful in the pharmacological treatment of alcohol abuse issues in contexts that include abstinence from alcohol use.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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