The critical impact of sex on preclinical alcohol research - Insights from zebrafish

Murilo S de Abreu; Matthew O Parker; Allan V Kalueff

doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101014

The critical impact of sex on preclinical alcohol research - Insights from zebrafish

Front Neuroendocrinol. 2022 Oct:67:101014. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101014. Epub 2022 Jul 8.

Authors

Murilo S de Abreu¹, Matthew O Parker², Allan V Kalueff³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology and Neurobiology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: abreu_murilo@hotmail.com.
² School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science, University of Portsmouth, UK.
³ Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology and Neurobiology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia; Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia; Neuroscience Program, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia; Granov Scientific Research Center of Radiology and Surgical Technologies, St. Petersburg, Russia; Almazov National Medical Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia; COBRAIN Center - Brain Research Excellence Center, M Heratsi Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia; Scientific Research Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia. Electronic address: avkalueff@gmail.com.

PMID: 35810841
DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101014

Abstract

Sex is an important biological variable that is widely recognized in studies of alcohol-related effects. Complementing clinical and preclinical rodent research, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) is the second most used laboratory species, and a powerful model organism in biomedicine. Like clinical and rodent models, zebrafish demonstrate overt sex differences in alcohol-related responses. Collectively, this evidence shows that the zebrafish becomes a sensitive model species to further probe in-depth sex differences commonly reported in alcohol research.

Keywords: Alcohol; Animal models; Pre-clinical research; Sex differences; Zebrafish.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Disease Models, Animal
Ethanol*
Female
Male
Sex Characteristics
Zebrafish*

Substances

Ethanol