Effects of Repeated Alcohol Abstinence on Within-Subject Prefrontal Cortical Gene Expression in Rhesus Macaques

This study focuses on the intersection of brain gene expression and the behavioral effects of repeated abstinence in a non-human primate (NHP) model of chronic ethanol consumption. We have previously published on the effects of how chronic consumption affects brain gene expression without abstinence. This study complements our prior publications. Our results illustrate that repeated abstinence increases ethanol consumption across all drinking phenotypes, from light to binge to heavy to very heavy drinking. Our biopsy/necropsy within subject design, was used to collect area 46 gene expression data (RNA-Seq). For the individuals that converted from heavy to very heavy drinking, post-abstinence within-subject gene expression changes were associated with highly significant ontologies that included immune response (FDR < 9 x 10-7), plasma membrane changes (FDR < 1 x 10-7) and the negative regulation of MAP kinase activity (FDR < 3 x 10-5). The genes associated with these ontologies suggest new targets for treating severe escalated drinking following repeated alcohol abstinence attempts.