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. 2018 Jan 24;42(2):338–351. doi: 10.1111/acer.13568

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Effects of long‐term voluntary alcohol drinking on the short isoform of the dopamine D2 receptor (D2S). Wistar rats were exposed to intermittent access to 20% ethanol (alcohol, n = 14) or 2 bottles of water (age‐matched alcohol‐naïve control, n = 8) for 5 months. Individual alcohol intake was determined as mean g/kg/24 h alcohol intake over the last 7 weeks. Effects of alcohol drinking on gene expression of the D2S in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and dorsal striatum (STR) were quantified using reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR. Specific primers were used detecting exon–exon junctions of the D2S. Expression levels for each gene are quantified relative to the reference gene peptidylprolyl isomerase A (PPIA). In the NAc, 3 RNA samples (n = 2 alcohol, n = 1 control) could not be successfully converted into cDNA. There were no significant overall effects of drinking condition or interaction of drinking condition*brain region (NAc: A; dorsal STR: C) (2‐way ANOVA) on D2S gene expression. There was a significant correlation between individual alcohol intake and D2S expression levels in the NAc (B), but not the dorsal STR (D) (Pearson's correlation).