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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Jun 15.
Published in final edited form as: Biol Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 10;91(12):1019–1028. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.01.002

Figure 5: Microinjection of norBNI into the BNST Attenuates Stress-Enhanced Alcohol Drinking.

Figure 5:

(A) Guide cannulae were implanted over the BNST 2-weeks prior to the start of Baseline drinking; vehicle or norBNI (2.5 μg/side) was infused 16-hr prior to the 3rd drinking session during Test 3 (denoted by green arrow). (B) Schematic representation of stereotaxic bilateral placement of guide cannulae over the BNST. (C) Average alcohol intake (over Day 3 and Day 4) in mice receiving vehicle (N= 8-10/group) or norBNI (N= 8-10/group) injection in the BNST. Following vehicle injection, CIE+FSS mice consumed significantly more alcohol than the CIE-alone group (^ p< 0.05), and both CIE+FSS and CIE-alone groups consumed more alcohol than CTL and FSS-alone groups (which did not differ) (* ps< 0.05); norBNI treatment blocked elevated drinking in CIE-alone (# p< 0.005) and CIE+FSS (## p< 0.001) groups without altering intake in the FSS-alone or CTL groups. (D) Difference from respective vehicle alcohol intake across treatment groups. Intra-BNST norBNI injection significantly reduced alcohol intake (relative to vehicle) in the CIE-alone group (* p< 0.05) and the CIE+FSS group (*** p< 0.001), and this effect was significantly greater in the CIE+FSS group compared to all other groups, which did not differ from each other (# ps< 0.05).