While ethanol consumption leads to an array of neurophysiological alterations involving the neural circuits for reward, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Acetic acid is a major metabolite of ethanol with high bioactivity and potentially significant pharmacological importance in regulating brain function. Yet the impact of acetic acid on reward circuit function has not been well explored. Given the rewarding properties associated with ethanol consumption, we investigated the acute effects of ethanol and/or acetic acid on the neurophysiological function of medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens shell, a key node in the mammalian reward circuit. We find that acetic acid, but not ethanol, provided a rapid and robust boost in neuronal excitability at physiologically relevant concentrations, while both compounds enhanced glutamatergic synaptic activity. These effects were consistent across both sexes in C57BL/6J mice. Overall, our data suggest acetic acid is a promising candidate mediator for ethanol effects on mood and motivation that deserves further investigation.

中文翻译：

---

乙醇代谢物乙酸激活小鼠伏隔核壳中等多刺神经元

虽然乙醇消耗会导致一系列涉及奖励神经回路的神经生理学改变，但其潜在机制仍不清楚。乙酸是乙醇的主要代谢物，具有高生物活性，在调节脑功能方面具有潜在的重要药理意义。然而，乙酸对奖赏回路功能的影响尚未得到很好的探索。鉴于与乙醇消耗相关的奖励特性，我们研究了乙醇和/或乙酸对伏隔核壳的中等多刺神经元的神经生理功能的急性影响，伏隔核是哺乳动物奖励回路中的关键节点。我们发现乙酸，但不是乙醇，在生理相关浓度下提供了神经元兴奋性的快速而有力的提升，而这两种化合物都增强了谷氨酸能突触活性。在 C57BL/6J 小鼠中，这些影响在两性之间是一致的。总体而言，我们的数据表明，乙酸是乙醇对情绪和动机影响的有希望的候选介质，值得进一步研究。