Research Interests
The Preclinical Psychogenetics Research Team
--Discovered that Inbred Fawn-Hooded rats voluntarily drank large amounts of alcohol, providing a strong genetic link in an animal model for alcohol preference and ability to drink large amounts of alcohol.
--Confirmed the association between the high voluntary consumption of saccharin as well as alcohol in alcohol-preferring rats, and established a similar relationship between sweet-liking and alcohol intake in humans.
--Found an ancient Chinese herbal medicine reduced alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats and alcohol-drinking monkeys.
---Isolated a pure compound from the Chinese herb which also reduced alcohol intake in rats. Recent Publications
Click here for a list of publications from PubMed
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) sensitization of ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior is brain site specific and mediated by CRF-1 receptors: relation to stress-induced sensitization. Huang MM, Overstreet DH, Knapp DJ, Angel R, Wills TA, Navarro M, Rivier J, Vale W, Breese GR. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2010 Jan;332(1):298-307.
A selective ALDH-2 inhibitor reduces anxiety in rats. Overstreet DH, Knapp DJ, Breese GR, Diamond I. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2009 Dec;94(2):255-61.
Suppression of heavy drinking and alcohol seeking by a selective ALDH-2 inhibitor. Arolfo MP, Overstreet DH, Yao L, Fan P, Lawrence AJ, Tao G, Keung WM, Vallee BL, Olive MF, Gass JT, Rubin E, Anni H, Hodge CW, Besheer J, Zablocki J, Leung K, Blackburn BK, Lange LG, Diamond I. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 Nov;33(11):1935-44.
Increased stress-evoked nitric oxide signalling in the Flinders sensitive line (FSL) rat: a genetic animal model of depression. Wegener G, Harvey BH, Bonefeld B, Müller HK, Volke V, Overstreet DH, Elfving B. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2009 Jul 23:1-13.
Simultaneous prenatal ethanol and nicotine exposure affect ethanol consumption, ethanol preference and oxytocin receptor binding in adolescent and adult rats.Williams SK, Cox ET, McMurray MS, Fay EE, Jarrett TM, Walker CH, Overstreet DH, Johns JM.Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2009 Jun 17
The brain 5-HT4 receptor binding is down-regulated in the Flinders Sensitive Line depression model and in response to paroxetine administration. Licht CL, Marcussen AB, Wegener G, Overstreet DH, Aznar S, Knudsen GM.J Neurochem. 2009 Jun;109(5):1363-74.
Sensitization, duration, and pharmacological blockade of anxiety-like behavior following repeated ethanol withdrawal in adolescent and adult rats.Wills TA, Knapp DJ, Overstreet DH, Breese GR. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 Mar;33(3):455-63.
Abstinence from moderate alcohol self-administration alters progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation in multiple brain regions of male and female p rats.He J, Overstreet DH, Crews FT. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 Jan;33(1):129-38.
Tizabi Y, Getachew B, Rezvani AH, Hauser SR, Overstreet DH. Antidepressant-like effects of nicotine and reduced nicotinic receptor binding in the fawn-hooded rat, an animal model of co-morbid depression and alcoholism.Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry.
McMurray MS, Williams SK, Jarrett TM, Cox ET, Fay EE, Overstreet DH, Walker CH, Johns JM. Gestational ethanol and nicotine exposure: Effects on maternal behavior, oxytocin, and offspring ethanol intake in the rat. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2008 Jul 11.
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Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill