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Neurology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2011

Virginia Commonwealth University

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Neurology

Genetic Analysis Of The Neurosteroid Deoxycorticosterone And Its Relation To Alcohol Phenotypes: Identification Of Qtls And Downstream Gene Regulation, Patrizia Porcu, Todd K. O'Buckley, Soomin C. Song, Jo Lynne Harenza, Lu Lu, Xusheng Wang, Michael F. Miles, A. Leslie Morrow Jan 2011

Genetic Analysis Of The Neurosteroid Deoxycorticosterone And Its Relation To Alcohol Phenotypes: Identification Of Qtls And Downstream Gene Regulation, Patrizia Porcu, Todd K. O'Buckley, Soomin C. Song, Jo Lynne Harenza, Lu Lu, Xusheng Wang, Michael F. Miles, A. Leslie Morrow

Neurology Publications

Background

Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) is an endogenous neurosteroid found in brain and serum, precursor of the GABAergic neuroactive steroid (3α,5α)-3,21-dihydroxypregnan-20-one (tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone, THDOC) and the glucocorticoid corticosterone. These steroids are elevated following stress or ethanol administration, contribute to ethanol sensitivity, and their elevation is blunted in ethanol dependence.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To systematically define the genetic basis, regulation, and behavioral significance of DOC levels in plasma and cerebral cortex we examined such levels across 47 young adult males from C57BL/6J (B6)×DBA/2J (D2) (BXD) mouse strains for quantitative trait loci (QTL) and bioinformatics analyses of behavior and gene regulation. Mice were injected with saline …