We used RNA sequencing to examine changes in gene expression in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) of adolescent male P rats that had consumed high levels of ethanol in a repeated binge-drinking pattern over a 3-week period (post-natal days 28 to day 49). The average consumption was approximately 8 g/kg per day for the 5 drinking days of each week, with average intakes of 2–3 g/kg in each 1 h session (McBride et al., 2014). Although blood alcohol levels were not measured in these animals, similarly treated adolescent animals reached blood alcohol levels of 100 mg% at the end of a 1 h session (Bell et al., 2011). There were 12,123 genes detectably expressed, of which 1,670 genes (14%) were differentially expressed between ethanol exposed and control animals; 877 (53%) were decreased (at FDR ≤ 0.05; Supplementary Table 1). Among the differentially expressed genes, 815 (49%) had absolute fold changes >1.5; 51% of genes with > 1.5 fold changes were decreased.
