In astrocytes from individuals with AUD, there was significantly higher expression of the astrocyte reactivity marker C3. This extends to the human caudate evidence that inflammation evoked by ethanol exposure is accompanied by reactive astrogliosis in the nucleus accumbens of rats13. A subset of astrocytes with increased C3 expression had significantly higher motif enrichment of bZIP transcription factors like JUND. Gene regulatory network analysis also implicated increased JUND in AUD, suggesting that changes in these factors may be regulating astrocytes as they undergo astrogliosis.
