Preference for ethanol in zebrafish following a single exposure

Ethanol is one of the most widely abused drugs in the world. Its addictive property is believed to primarily stem from its ability to influence the brain reinforcement pathway evolved for mediating natural rewards. Although dopamine is a known component of the reinforcement pathway, clear molecular and cellular compositions of this pathway and its sensitivity to ethanol remain not well understood. Zebrafish has been increasingly used to model and understand human disease states, due to its genetic tractability and ease of maintenance. In this study, we determine whether adult zebrafish develop ethanol preference after a single exposure using a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Moreover, we establish a procedure that can be carried out in an automated and relatively high-throughput fashion. We find that zebrafish of the AB strain display significantly increased preference for the compartment where they received ethanol during a single 20-min exposure. The largest increase in preference is in response to a 1.5% ethanol administered in the tank water. The results demonstrate robust ethanol preference in zebrafish. Such a relatively high-throughput assay with automated tracking and response to a single ethanol exposure provides a potential means for a large-scale screening aimed at understanding the brain reinforcement pathway and its sensitivity to ethanol in this genetically tractable vertebrate.

Research highlights▶ The genetic basis for alcoholism is poorly understood. ▶ Establishing a vertebrate genetic system to study the biological effects of alcohol is important. ▶ We showed that adult zebrafish develop robust ethanol preference after a single exposure. ▶ This conditioned place preference procedure employs automated tracking and is high-throughput. ▶ It can be used for large-scale screening to study the reinforcement pathway & its sensitivity to ethanol.