Alcohol and nicotine are common substances that impact individuals individually and concurrently. This project aims to investigate the impact of nicotine and alcohol in ChAT-MOR mice individually and concurrently. Nicotine and ethanol both affect dopamine release through different mechanisms. We are specifically studying the impact of cholinergic interneurons on dopamine release within the striatum. CHAT-MOR mice give us the necessary tools to study this neural mechanism and how it impacts ethanol and nicotine consumption. We aim to investigate the relationship between these interneurons’ dopaminergic neurons and addiction. The current literature on ChAT-MOR mice in tandem with addiction is currently limited, along with animal studies investigating the comorbidity of alcohol and nicotine use and abuse. Mice consumed nicotine, alcohol, and a combination of the two in an intermittent access, two-bottle choice paradigm over a span of six weeks. Results demonstrated that the mice with the cholinergic interneuron MOR deletion had reduced preference for nicotine compared to the wildtype controls. Preference vs water was highest for nicotine in all mice, regardless of genotype. Consumption of the combined solution was higher in mice with the MOR deletion than wildtype. There is a potential sex-specific effect of the MOR deletion on ethanol drinking – hetero males consumed less ethanol than wildtype males. This research provides evidence that cholinergic interneurons are involved in both ethanol and nicotine potentially in a sex-dependent manner. Ideally, this research can start to untangle the receptors involved in addiction to help better understand the mechanisms behind this epidemic.
Author(s): Mary Durfee, Zoology and Premedical Studies Major
Delainey Lewis, Psychology Major
Kat Pikus, Psychology Major
Nicolaus Bruns VI, Psychology and Biology Major
Advisor(s): Anna Radke, Department of Psychology
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