AUTHOR=Zeng Kuan , Xie Aimin , Zhang Xiaojie , Zhong Baoliang , Liu Xuebing , Hao Wei TITLE=Chronic Alcohol Treatment-Induced GABA-Aα5 Histone H3K4 Trimethylation Upregulation Leads to Increased GABA-Aα5 Expression and Susceptibility to Alcohol Addiction in the Offspring of Wistar Rats JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=9 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00468 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00468 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-Aα5 is considered to be associated with alcohol-induced memory deficits. However, whether it participates in the formation of alcohol addiction or in the regulation of its susceptibility is unknown. Here, we used a chronic alcohol treatment model to obtain alcohol-addicted Wistar rats. Long-term alcoholism increased the expression of prefrontal cortex GABA-Aα5 by inducing its histone H3K4 trimethylation, and these changes could be hereditary and lead to increased vulnerability to alcohol addiction in offspring. This study indicates the risk of long-term alcoholism in future generations, emphasizes the importance of GABA-Aα5 in the formation of alcohol addiction and the regulation of its susceptibility, and provides new evidence regarding the mechanisms underlying alcohol addiction.