Ethanol is one of the most commonly abused substances in the world, and ethanol abuse and dependence disorders represent major societal problems. However, appropriate treatment is lacking as we still do not fully understand the molecular bases of these disorders. The zebrafish is one of the model organisms utilized for studying such mechanisms. In this study, we examined the effects of acute ethanol administration on the behavior of zebrafish, and we also analyzed correlated gene expression changes using whole-mount in situ hybridization focusing on a number of genes associated with different neurotransmitter systems, stress response, and neuronal activity. We found ethanol treatment to result in hyperactivity and reduced shoal cohesion compared to control. Analysis of c-fos expression demonstrated altered activity patterns in certain brain regions, including intense activation of the mammillary body in zebrafish with acute ethanol treatment. We also found reduced level of gad1b expression in the cerebellum of ethanol treated fish compared to control. However, we could not detect significant changes in the expression level of other genes, including vglut2b, th, crh, hdc, avp, pomc, and galn in ethanol treated fish compared controls. Our results suggest that zebrafish is a promising animal model for the study of mechanisms underlying alcohol induced behavioral changes and alcohol related human disorders.

乙醇是世界上最常被滥用的物质之一，乙醇滥用和依赖症代表了主要的社会问题。然而，由于我们仍未完全了解这些疾病的分子基础，因此缺乏适当的治疗方法。斑马鱼是用于研究这种机制的模式生物之一。在这项研究中，我们检查了急性乙醇给药对斑马鱼行为的影响，我们还使用整体原位杂交分析了相关的基因表达变化，重点关注与不同神经递质系统、应激反应和神经元相关的许多基因。活动。我们发现与对照相比，乙醇处理会导致过度活跃并降低浅滩凝聚力。c-fos分析表达表明某些大脑区域的活动模式发生了改变，包括用急性乙醇处理斑马鱼乳头体的强烈激活。我们还发现与对照相比，乙醇处理的鱼的小脑中gad1b表达水平降低。然而，我们无法检测到其他基因表达水平的显着变化，包括vglut2b、th、crh、hdc、avp、pomc和galn在乙醇处理的鱼中比较对照。我们的研究结果表明，斑马鱼是一种很有前途的动物模型，可用于研究酒精引起的行为变化和与酒精相关的人类疾病的机制。