The Neuropharmacology of Alcohol

This volume gives an overview of new insights to alcohol pharmacology using DREADDs (Designer Receptors and Unraveling the Neuropharmacology of Alcohol). It examines which pharmacological principles should be applied to understanding DREADDs taking into account some very current research. Additionally, this book covers important topics under the heading of “experimental pharmacology” and alcohol.

Part 1. Neurotransmitter systems.- 1. GABAA receptor subtype mechanism and the abuse related effects of ethanol: Genetic and pharmacological evidence.- 2. Presynaptic Ethanol Actions: Potential Roles in Ethanol Seeking.- 3. Dynamic adaptation in neurosteroid networks in response to alcohol.- 4. GABA and Glutamate synaptic co-adaptations to chronic ethanol in the striatum.- 5. The cerebellar GABAAR system as a potential target for treating alcohol use disorder.- 6. Do alcohol-related AMPA-type glutamate receptor adaptations promote intake?.- 7. Molecular, neuronal and behavioral effects of ethanol and nicotine interactions.- 8. Cross-species alterations in synaptic dopamine regulation after chronic alcohol exposure.- 9. Central noradrenergic interactions with alcohol and regulation of alcohol related behaviors.- Part 2. Ion Channels.- 10. Voltage-sensitive calcium channels in the brain: Relevance to alcohol intoxication and withdrawal.- 11. Voltage-sensitive potassium channels of the BK type and their coding genes are alcohol targets in neurons.- 12. Chronic alcohol, intrinsic excitability, and potassium channels: Neuroadaptations and drinking behavior.- Part 3. Neuroimmune system.- 13. Hepatic immune system adaptations to alcohol.- 14. Innate immune signaling and alcohol use disorders.- 15. Cytokins in the CNS.- Part 4. Neuropeptides and Genomics.- 16. Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) Neurocircuitry and neuropharmacology in alcohol drinking.- 17. Contribution of dynorphin and orexin neuropeptide systems to the motivational effects of alcohol.- 18. Transcriptional regulators as targets for alcohol pharmacotherapies.- Part 5. Pharmacotherapy.- 19. Advances in Pharmacotherapy Development From Preclinical Animal Studies.- 20. Advances in Pharmacotherapy Development: Human Clinical Studies.