GENETIC-ANALYSIS OF THE CORTICOSTERONE RESPONSE TO ETHANOL IN BXD RECOMBINANT INBRED MICE

The genetic control over the corticosterone response to ethanol (EtOH) and its possible relationship to other EtOH-related traits was examin ed using BXD recombinant inbred (RI) strains derived from an F2 cross of C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) progenitor strains. Quantitative trai t locus (QTL) analysis of corticosterone levels 1 hr following EtOH su ggested the influence of a single major gene on this trait. Two loci w ere predicted to account for 47% of the genetic variance in plasma cor ticosterone levels 6 hr following EtOH, whereas 3 loci were predicted to account for 78% of the genetic variance in corticosterone levels 7 hr following EtOH. Markers associated with corticosterone levels 7 hr following EtOH and corrected corticosterone levels 6 hr post-EtOH over lapped with ones found to influence acute and chronic EtOH withdrawal severity, suggesting some degree of common genetic determination betwe en these traits. Overall these results indicate that gene action signi ficantly influences stress responsiveness and suggest possible chromos omal locations of these genes.