Serotonin is reduced in the frontal cortex of Sardinian ethanol-preferring rats.

Ethanol-naive Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) and Sardinian alcohol-non-preferring (sNP) rats were tested to evaluate the levels of serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindol-3-yl-acetic acid (5-HIAA) in the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, and nucleus accumbens, and the levels of dopamine (DA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in the hypothalamus and nucleus accumbens. Compared with the sNP line, the sP rats had lower 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations in the frontal cortex, whereas no differences were found in the other brain areas tested, neither for neurotransmitters nor their metabolites. As the decreased 5-HT function is a feature shared by different alcohol-preferring strains, it could be linked to the genetic predisposition to voluntary ethanol consumption.