Results of experiments with Neuropeptide Y, an endogenous anxiolytic neuropeptide also involved in behavioral adaptation to stressors, showed that when given ICV, it reduces alcohol intake in postdependent but not in nondependent rats. When a viral vector was used to over-express NPY in the amygdala, decreased alcohol intake and mild anxiolytic effect were observed in rats with a history of dependence. On the other hand, in animals with a history of ethanol exposure, administration of an antagonist to the presynaptic Y2-receptor, which theoretically increased the availability of NPY in the synaptic cleft, also decreased ethanol intake.
