Experimental modeling of double diagnosis: anxiety disorder and alcoholism
Background. Experimental models of anxiety disorders and alcoholism in animals can give an idea of the brain mechanisms of the formation of this pathology, which, in turn, will help optimize approaches to the treatment of this category of patients. Aim: to create an experimental model of dual diagnosis: anxiety disorder using the example of OCD and the formation of alcohol preferences in rats. Methods. The experiment was performed on 49 Wistar male rats, of which 29 individuals from the 9th to the 16th day after birth were injected with clomipramine at a dose of 15 mg / kg daily, and the remaining 20 were injected with saline in the same volume. At the age of 2 months, different behavioral parameters were evaluated in all rats in the tests «Marble burring», «Sound reaction» and «Open field», as well as the preference for alcohol in the «Two bottle test». After the first control test, rats were radomized into 4 groups. Rats receiving clomipramine in the postnatal period were divided into a group subjected to semi-forced alcoholization - clomipramine + alcohol (CA) and a group that drank water - clomipramine + water (CW). Rats that received saline in the postnatal period were also divided into groups; alcohol drinkers were saline + alcohol (SA), and the group that drank water - saline + water (SW). The following tests were carried out on the 4th and 8th weeks of the experiment. Results. Rats of the experimental group, postnatally treated with clomipramine, showed an increased level of anxiety in the tests «Instillation of glass balls», «Open field» and «Reaction to sound». In addition, in this group of rats, a preference for alcohol was revealed even before the start of alcoholization. After 4 weeks of alcoholization, the CA group reliably prefers alcohol more than the CW and SW groups. By the 8th week, all three experimental groups significantly preferred alcohol than rats of the SW group. The data obtained indicate that after a month of forced alcoholization, the fact of alcohol consumption itself becomes an important factor in the formation of ethanol preference along with the anxiety behavior caused by postnatal administration of clomipramine. Conclusion. The proposed experimental model demonstrates that anxiety disorder can contribute to the further development of alcoholism. In the process of alcoholization, the preference for ethanol is associated with both the anxiety disorder factor and the semi-forced alcoholization factor itself, and their combined effect is most pronounced after a month of experiment.