Effects of midazolam and propranolol on fear memory reconsolidation in ethanol dependent rats

Huerta Grande-Córdoba-Argentina

Congreso; XXVII Congreso anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencia.; 2012

Withdrawal from chronic ethanol (ETOH) facilitated the formation of contextual fear memory which is resistant to extinction. Here we examined the effect of post-reactivation amnestic treatments such as Midazolam (MDZ) and Propranolol (PROP) on fear memory reconsolidation in ETOH dependent rats. Male Wistar rats made dependent via an ETOH containing liquid diet for 14 days. Contextual fear conditioning was performed 3 days after withdrawal.The next day, rats received an intraperitoneal injection of MDZ (3mg/kg) or PROP (10mg/kg) immediately after 3 or 5 min reactivation session, respectively and the freezing response was evaluated 24 h later. Neither MDZ nor PROP decreased freezing levels in ETOH dependent rats. In contrast, both drug treatments induced an effective attenuation of fear response in control rats. This effect lasted up to one week. Our findings suggest that previous history of ETOH dependence/withdrawal lead to the generation of memory traces less vulnerable to disruption after recall.