Long-term voluntary ethanol drinking increases expression of NMDA receptor 2B subunits in rat frontal cortex.

Forced ethanol drinking for several days and application of ethanol to cell cultures changes expression levels of various NMDA receptor subunits in rodents. We investigated the influence of long-term voluntary ethanol consumption of moderate ethanol doses on polypeptide levels of the NMDA receptor subunit 2B (NR2B) in various forebrain regions of rats and found a mild increase selectively in the frontal cortex. This result is in accordance with and extends findings from studies using high doses of ethanol for a short period and suggests that the NR2B might be a potential target for an effective treatment of alcoholic patients.