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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.

Sec. Translational Neuroscience

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1639344

This article is part of the Research TopicNeurobiological Basis of Substance Use Disorders: New Findings and PerspectivesView all 5 articles

Serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors differentially modulate the acquisition and expression of voluntary alcohol drinking in male mice

Provisionally accepted
Sandy  C SimõesSandy C Simões1Livia  N AmorimLivia N Amorim1Yasmim  A SerraYasmim A Serra1Camila  S AbreuCamila S Abreu1Maria  C E SantanaMaria C E Santana1João  P C LeiteJoão P C Leite1Carla  M KanetoCarla M Kaneto1Roberta  C A CostaRoberta C A Costa1Kaio  R FerreiraKaio R Ferreira1Alexandre  J Oliveira-LimaAlexandre J Oliveira-Lima1Agnieszka  SulimaAgnieszka Sulima2Kenner  C RiceKenner C Rice2Eduardo  Ary Villela MarinhoEduardo Ary Villela Marinho1Lais  F BerroLais F Berro3*
  • 1Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz Departamento de Ciencias da Saude, Ilhéus, Brazil
  • 2National Institute on Drug Abuse Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch, Baltimore, United States
  • 3University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Studies suggest that serotonin (5-HT) plays an important role in alcohol use disorder (AUD). While several receptor subtypes modulate the role of 5-HT in AUD, evidence suggests that 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors may be directly involved in alcohol drinking due to their interaction with the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C antagonists, alone or in combination, on the acquisition and expression (i.e., return to alcohol drinking after a period of abstinence/treatment) of voluntary alcohol drinking in male mice. Animals had intermittent access to alcohol (10% v/v) in a two-bottle choice procedure for 30 days (acquisition), and were then submitted to alcohol re-exposure sessions after periods of abstinence. Vehicle, the 5-HT2A receptor antagonist M100907 (M100, 1 mg/kg) and/or the 5-HT2C receptor antagonist SB242084 (SB, 1 mg/kg) were administered either prior to acquisition (Experiment 1) or during the abstinence period preceding re-exposure sessions (Experiment 2). During re-exposure tests, animals were submitted to the same conditions as during acquisition, with no treatments prior to those sessions. Our findings show that combined treatment with 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C antagonists, but not treatment with the antagonists separately, reduced alcohol drinking and preference when administered immediately before acquisition (Experiment 1). Combined treatment with 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C antagonists after the establishment of voluntary alcohol drinking did not alter the expression of drinking behavior (Experiment 2). On the other hand, while post-acquisition treatment with a 5-HT2A antagonist alone decreased alcohol intake and preference during reexposure, co-administration of a 5-HT2C antagonist blocked these effects. Our findings suggest that 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors differentially modulate the acquisition and expression of voluntary alcohol drinking in mice.

Keywords: alcohol, Serotonin, two-bottle choice, Mice, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C

Received: 01 Jun 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Simões, Amorim, Serra, Abreu, Santana, Leite, Kaneto, Costa, Ferreira, Oliveira-Lima, Sulima, Rice, Marinho and Berro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Lais F Berro, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, United States

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