Metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5) is involved in the transition of alcohol use to addiction by activating signalling pathways and inducing glutamate excitotoxicity. The objective was to investigate the effects of chronic alcohol treatment and withdrawal on mGluR5 binding in the brains of C57BL/6J mice. The study was a controlled experiment in which male C57Bl/6J mice were introduced to the alcohol liquid diet with a gradual increase in alcohol during 12 days. Half of the treated mice (n = 3) and their paired controls (n = 3) withdrew from alcohol for 1 day and the remaining mice (n = 6) withdrew for 4 days. The mice were decapitated and their brains were extracted. [3H]MPEP binding to mGluR5 were measured by receptor autoradiography in various brain regions. No significant differences between alcohol exposed and control mice were observed.

Keywords: Alcohol addiction, mGluR5, mGluR5 allosteric modulator, C57BL/6J mice, autoradiography, [3H]MPEP