Social Isolation Alters GABAA Receptors Plasticity and Function: Effect of Voluntary Consumption of Ethanol

The study found that social isolation in rats led to reduced levels of progesterone metabolites in the brain and plasma, but enhanced the effects of acute stress and ethanol on these steroids. Socially isolated rats showed increased ethanol consumption and greater ethanol-induced changes in GABAA receptor function compared to group-housed rats. Ethanol increased the abundance of certain GABAA receptor subunits and inhibitory currents in isolated rats, effects that were mitigated by finasteride, an inhibitor of steroid synthesis. Voluntary ethanol consumption during isolation reversed some of the neurochemical changes caused by isolation. The findings suggested that social isolation might increase vulnerability to alcohol abuse by altering neuroactive steroid levels and GABAA receptor plasticity.