Chronic alcohol induced mechanical allodynia by promoting neuroinflammation: A mouse model of alcohol-evoked neuropathic pain

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Chronic pain is considered a key factor contributing to alcohol use disorder (AUD). The mechanisms responsible for chronic pain associated with chronic alcohol consumption are unknown. We evaluated the development of chronic pain in a mouse model of alcohol dependence and investigate the role of neuroinflammation. Experimental Approach: The chronic-intermittent ethanol two-bottle choice CIE-2BC paradigm generates three groups: alcohol-dependent with escalating alcohol intake, nondependent (moderate drinking) and alcohol-naïve control male and female mice. We measured mechanical allodynia during withdrawal and after the last voluntary drinking. Immunoblotting was used to evaluate the protein levels of IBA-1, CSFR, IL-6, p38 and ERK2/1 in spinal cord tissue of dependent and non-dependent animals. Key Results: We found significant escalation of drinking in the dependent group in male and female compared with the non-dependent group. The dependent group developed mechanical allodynia during 72 h of withdrawal, which was completely reversed after voluntary drinking. We observed an increased pain hypersensitivity compared with the naïve in 50% of non-dependent group. Increased IBA-1 and CSFR expression was observed in spinal cord tissue of both hypersensitivity-abstinence related and neuropathy-alcohol mice, and increased IL-6 expression and ERK1/2 activation in mice with hypersensitivity-related to abstinence, but not in mice with alcohol-evoked neuropathic pain. Conclusions and Implications: The CIE-2BC model induces two distinct pain conditions specific to the type of ethanol exposure: abstinence-related hypersensitivity in dependent mice and alcohol-evoked neuropathic pain in about a half of the non-dependent mice.