The influence of mouse genotype on the changes in brain cyclic nucleotide levels induced by acute alcohol administration.

Two mouse strains (C57BL/6By and BALB/cByJ) were found to differ widely in their sleep-time response to ethanol (3 g/kg), but showed no difference in their hypothermic response to the same ethanol dose. Comparison of brain cyclic nucleotide levels in the two strains revealed a strain difference in the brain cyclic AMP response to ethanol but no strain difference in the magnitude of the brain cyclic GMP change. Alcohol produced a significant drop in cerebellar cyclic GMP in both strains, and a decrease in cerebellar cyclic AMP in C57BL/6By mice. The cyclic AMP/cyclic GMP ratio increased following alcohol in the cerebellum of BALB/cByJ mice but not C57BL/6By mice. The results are discussed in terms of possible relationships between alcohol-induced changes in neurochemistry and behavior.