PhD Scientific Days 2025

Poster Session III. - R: Neurosciences

The Effect of Chronic Alcohol Exposure on Caenorhabditis elegans Behavior

Name of the presenter

Brandl Zsófia

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Authors

Zsófia Brandl MSc¹, Viola Nagy¹, Dr. Cynthia Hunn¹, Dr. Gábor Hajdú¹, Dr. Csaba Sőti¹, Dr. Csaba Barta¹

1: Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Text of the abstract

Addiction poses a grave threat on society, with serious individual and social consequences. Addictive behaviors, such as alcohol and drug abuse, not only threaten the health and well- being of individuals, but also impose a significant economic burden on society. Alcohol addiction is caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, which are transmitted to generations. To tackle this, we need a deeper understanding of the molecular and genetic background of acute alcohol addiction, and Caenorhabditis elegans could be an excellent model organism to study these processes. Several recent studies highlight the nematode’s importance in addiction research, that use many different addictive substances and paradigms. This study focused on the effect of acute ethanol exposure on the sensorimotor performance of C. elegans during a diacetyl race chemotaxis assay, which applies diacetyl as an olfactory attractant for the worms to reach the goal area. The percentage of animals that reach the goal within the given time allows us to measure the effects of chronic substance exposure and withdrawal-related behavior, i.e. how different ethanol concentrations alter their sensorimotor abilities. We used two strains, the wild-type (WT) and tph-1 serotonin null mutant and two alcohol concentrations (200 and 400 mM). Statistical evaluation by ANOVA found that alcohol withdrawal causes a significant change in the worm’s behavior. WT animals showed significantly slower goal-reaching times after 24 hours of exposure to 400 mM alcohol compared to untreated controls (p< 0.05). Serotonin-null mutants exhibited significantly slower goal-entry times at both 200 mM and 400 mM alcohol concentrations (p< 0.05). These changes in goal-reaching behavior—specifically the increased time and reduced speed were interpreted as withdrawal-related behavior in the worm. Besides serotonin, dopamine also has an important role in alcohol addiction by mediating reward, reinforcement, and motivational processes that drive to compulsive alcohol-seeking behavior. In our plans, we will also investigate the effect of addictive substance exposure on dopamine mutant strains. These findings contribute to a better understanding of addiction- related neurobiological processes and may help identify potential molecular targets for intervention.