QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF MU-OPIOID RECEPTOR MESSENGER-RNA IN SELECTED CNS REGIONS OF ALCOHOL NAIVE RATS SELECTIVELY BRED FOR HIGH AND LOWALCOHOL-DRINKING

We combined solution hybridization, ribonuclease protection and microd issection techniques to quantitalively compare the anatomical distribu tion of mu receptor mRNA in discrete brain regions of alcohol naive ra ts selectively bred for high and low alcohol drinking (HAD and LAD lin es, respectively). The solution hybridization assay is highly sensitiv e and can detect mu opioid receptor mRNA in a 100-fold linear range fr om 3 to 421 amol. HAD and LAD rats exhibited a similar level of mu rec eptor mRNA in all central nervous system (CNS) regions examined except for the inferior colliculus. Our data suggest that the steady-state l evel of mu receptor mRNA is not associated with genetic differences in alcohol drinking behavior. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.