Binge Drinking Withdrawal Affects Brain Peptides and Anxiety Differently in Male and Female Adolescent Rats | Research

The takeaway

Ethanol withdrawal from binge episodes produces sex-dependent changes in social anxiety behavior and neuropeptide gene expression in adolescent rats.

Sex-dependent withdrawal effects
Male and female adolescent rats showed different patterns of anxiety and neuropeptide changes during alcohol binge withdrawal

What the researchers found

Single and repeated binge ethanol withdrawal in adolescent rats produced sex-dependent effects on social anxiety-like behavior and neuropeptide gene expression.

Why it matters

Understanding sex differences in how adolescent binge drinking affects the brain could help develop sex-specific prevention and treatment strategies for alcohol use disorder.

The numbers in context

Assessed social investigation behavior during acute withdrawal from single and repeated binge episodes. Measured OXT and AVP gene expression in hypothalamus and central amygdala. Sex-dependent effects observed.

How the study worked

Preclinical study exposing adolescent male and female rats to single or repeated binge ethanol episodes, then measuring social anxiety-like behavior and neuropeptide gene expression during acute withdrawal and protracted abstinence.

Who was studied

Male and female adolescent Sprague Dawley rats

What this study cannot tell us

Animal study — findings may not directly translate to human adolescents. Ethanol dosing patterns in rats approximate but do not perfectly replicate human binge drinking.

How to read the evidence

Preclinical animal study providing mechanistic insight into sex differences in adolescent alcohol withdrawal effects.

When this study was published

Published in 2025, contributing to understanding of sex-specific neurobiology of adolescent alcohol exposure.

The bigger picture

This research helps explain why adolescent drinking is particularly risky and why alcohol use disorder develops differently in males and females — neuropeptide systems respond differently to withdrawal stress.

Questions still open

Which specific neuropeptide systems show the strongest sex-dependent withdrawal effects?
Do these sex differences in withdrawal sensitivity predict later alcohol preference in adulthood?

Common questions

Why is binge drinking especially harmful for adolescents?

The adolescent brain is still developing, and binge drinking can alter neuropeptide systems involved in anxiety and reward processing. This study shows that even withdrawal between binges causes brain changes that may increase vulnerability to alcohol use disorder.

Do boys and girls respond differently to binge drinking?

This animal study suggests yes. Male and female rats showed different patterns of anxiety behavior and brain peptide changes during alcohol withdrawal, suggesting that sex-specific biological responses may explain why alcohol disorders develop differently between sexes.

Read the original research

Sex-dependent effects of ethanol withdrawal from a single- and repeated binge episode exposures on social anxiety-like behavior and neuropeptide gene expression in adolescent rats.

Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), 122, 71-80

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Penta, Peter T; Villarreal, Susanna; Rameas, Caitlin I; Collins, Ella C; Towner, Trevor T; Varlinskaya, Elena I; Werner, David F. (2025). Sex-dependent effects of ethanol withdrawal from a single- and repeated binge episode exposures on social anxiety-like behavior and neuropeptide gene expression in adolescent rats.. Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), 122, 71-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2024.10.001