FIGURE 5.

(A) Acute alcohol withdrawal was indexed by HICs in ethanol- or saline-exposed groups pretreated with NAC or vehicle (saline). Mice were pretreated (-48 and -24 h) with NAC or vehicle and scored twice for baseline HICs (indicated by B) immediately before administration of 4 g/kg ethanol or saline (arrow = injection at time 0), and hourly 2–12 h post-injection. After 4–5 h, convulsion scores increased above baseline, indicating a state of withdrawal hyperexcitability that peaks about 6–8 h post-administration. HIC scores return to baseline within 24 h. (B) Alcohol withdrawal severity (corrected AUC, mean ± SEM) for NAC and vehicle-pretreated ethanol groups. For ethanol-exposed animals, NAC-pretreatment significant decreased withdrawal severity compared to vehicle (^∗p < 0.0005). Data represent the strain mean ± SEM (n = 38, 41, 17, and 18 mice per group, respectively).