Following testing of baseline alcohol intake, we investigated the effects of a CRFR1 antagonist on alcohol consumption in the HM2 system. One day prior to drug administration, a habituation injection of vehicle (0.9% saline) was administered 30 min prior to the dark cycle. The following day, vehicle or 20 mg/kg CP-376,395 (diluted in 0.9% sterile saline, Batch 1B/226641, Tocris Bioscience, Minneapolis, MN USA) was administered 30 min prior to the dark cycle. All injections were administered at a volume of 10 ml/kg body weight. The dose of 20 mg/kg was selected based on previous work in our lab demonstrating its ability to decrease ethanol intake in singly-housed mice (Giardino and Ryabinin, 2013 (link)). In the socially-housed group, half of the animals (n = 2/cage) received drug while the other half (n = 2/cage) received vehicle, thus allowing administration in a “mixed” setting to more appropriately model treatment-assisted therapy for those undergoing AUD treatment. Intake, drinks, drink size, and channel entries for ethanol and water channels were monitored, where a drink represents an instance in which an animal entered the channel and consumed fluid, drink size represents the average volume (ml) consumed per drink, and a channel entry represents an instance in which an animal entered the channel, but did not consume fluid.
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