Acute cannabidiol treatment attenuates ethanol-induced place preference and reduces aggressivity in group-housed male rats

Zineb Ibn Lahmar Andaloussi, Wendy Lauer, Simo S. Zulu, Khalid Taghzouti, Oualid Abboussi (Lead / Corresponding author)

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Alcohol abuse is a widespread cause of aggressive and impulsive behaviors that impact the users as well as their entourage. However, only a few medications are effective. Recently, cannabidiol has been reported to improve mood disorders and recovery from substance abuse, yet the psychopharmacologic effects of cannabidiol in ethanol-induced drug reward and aggressivity remain unexplored. In the present study, we investigated the effects of cannabidiol on ethanol-induced place preference and aggressivity in individually and group-housed male rats using the conditioned place preference test, and intruder evoc aggression test, respectively. The obtained results showed that ethanol significantly increased locomotor activity, induced conditioned place preference in all animals, and, specifically, increased aggressivity in individually housed rats. These behavioural impairments induced by ethanol were associated with decreased glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors transcription in the prefrontal cortex. Notwithstanding, cannabidiol at a dose of 10 mg/kg significantly inhibited Et-OH-induced place preference in group-housed, but not in individually housed rats, and markedly inhibited the aggressive behaviour. These findings suggest that ethanol-induced behavioural impairments are dependent on the housing condition that may affect corticosterone receptors expression and subsequently the animal responsivity to cannabidiol treatment.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number173290
    Number of pages8
    JournalPharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
    Volume211
    Early online date16 Oct 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

    Keywords

    • Aggressive behaviour
    • Cannabidiol
    • Conditioned place preference
    • Ethanol
    • Housing condition

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • Toxicology
    • Pharmacology
    • Clinical Biochemistry
    • Biological Psychiatry
    • Behavioral Neuroscience

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