Decreased Oral Self-Administration of Alcohol In ??-Opioid Receptor Knock-Out Mice

Abstract

Our results indicating decreased alcohol consumption, lower saccharin preference, and higher quinine preference in KOR KO mice are in line with previous observations of opioid involvement in maintenance of food intake and raise the possibility that the deficient dynorphin/KOR system affects orosensory reward through central mechanisms which reduce alcohol intake and disrupt tastant responses, either as direct effects of absence of kappa-opioid receptors, or as effects of indirect developmental compensatory changes.