A) Rats self-administered saccharin prior to fading ethanol into the drinking solution. Rats were subjected to a single restraint stress 15–20 hrs before the first ethanol exposure (red arrow). Daily fluid intake was measured in control and stressed rats. Stressed rats showed greater ethanol intake compared to unstressed control rats. **Significantly different from the control group by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.01, n = 16–19 rats/group.
B) Ethanol intake (g/kg) vs blood ethanol levels (mg/dl). Blood ethanol was measured immediately after the self-administration session in control (black) and stressed (red) animals. A regression analysis showed a significant and positive correlation between ethanol intake and blood ethanol levels, F(1,13) = 162.7, p < 0.01.
C) Mean daily ethanol intake over the first 7 self-administration sessions. Stressed rats (red bar) consumed significantly more ethanol (g/kg) compared to control rats (black bar). Blockade of glucocorticoid receptors with RU486 systemically (dark blue, 40 mg/kg, i.p.) or locally in the VTA (light blue, 20 ng/1 ml) prior to stress prevented increases in ethanol intake, n = 10, 14. RU486 administered systemically or intra-VTA to control animals did not alter ethanol intake, n = 9, gray bar. **Significantly different from all groups by t-test, p < 0.01.

A) Animals were exposed to a 1-hr restraint stress and microdialysis experiments were conducted 15 hrs later.
B) Time course of DA release in the NAc following in vivo ethanol administration in control rats (black), in stressed rats (red), and in rats injected with RU486 (i.p.) prior to stress exposure (grey). Ethanol (1.5 g/kg) was injected i.v. during the 5-min period (shaded vertical grey bar). *Significantly different from the control group and from the RU486+Stress group by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.05, n = 7–9 rats/group.
C) The spontaneous firing rate of VTA DA neurons was measured in vivo using single-unit recordings in anesthetized animals.
D) Putative DA neuron recording sites in the VTA for control (black) and stressed animals (red).
E) Representative recordings from putative DA neurons before and after ethanol administration (0.6–1.5 g/kg) in the control (black) and stressed (red) groups. No significant differences in the mean basal firing rate were detected between control and stressed groups: 6.3 ± 0.7 Hz in control vs. 8.0 ± 1.0 Hz after stress, n = 8–13, p > 0.05.
F) In the control group (black), ethanol increased the firing rate of putative DA neurons. In the stressed group (red), ethanol failed to increase the firing rate of putative DA neurons. **Significantly different from the control group by t-test, p < 0.01, n = 8–13 rats/group.

A) Spontaneous firing rate of VTA DA neurons was measured using the cell-attached configuration, and the whole-cell configuration was used to identify DA neurons electrophysiologically and histochemically upon termination of the experiment.
B) Neurobiotin-labeled putative DA neurons were immuno-positive for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, red stain).
C) Representative recordings from DA neurons before and after bath ethanol administration in the control and stressed (red) groups. No significant differences in mean basal firing rate were detected before ethanol: 2.3 ± 0.2 Hz in control vs. 2.0 ± 0.2 Hz after stress, n = 10–12.
D) Normalized spontaneous firing rates of VTA DA neurons following ethanol (grey horizontal bar) in unstressed control group (black) and in rats exposed to stress 15-hrs prior to cutting the slice (red). **Significantly different from the control by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.01, n = 10–12 cells/group.
E) Glutamatergic receptor antagonists (DNQX and AP5) did not prevent ethanol-induced attenuation of DA cell firing after exposure to stress (red) and showed a lower firing rate than unstressed controls (black). **Significantly different from the control by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.01, n = 7–8 cells/group.
F) The GABA_A receptor antagonist, picrotoxin, prevented ethanol’s attenuation of VTA DA neuron firing rates after stress (red) and showed a response similar to the unstressed controls (black), n = 9–15 cells/group.
G) Spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSC) onto VTA DA neurons were recorded using the whole-cell patch clamp configuration. No significant differences were detected in the mean basal sIPSC frequency or amplitude between stressed and control groups before ethanol: frequency, 2.4 ± 0.6 Hz in control vs. 2.3 ± 0.3 Hz after stress; amplitude, 26.2 ± 4.0 pA in control vs. 30.8 ± 3.6 pA after stress, p > 0.05, n = 8–10.
H) Representative recordings of sIPSCs before and after ethanol administration in the control (black) and stressed (red) groups.
I) Mean changes in the sIPSC frequency after ethanol application in VTA DA neurons. DA neurons from stressed animals (red) demonstrated a significantly increased ethanol-mediated sIPSC frequency compared to neurons from unstressed controls (black). Systemic inhibition of glucocorticoid receptors with RU486 (40 mg/kg) prior to stress prevented elevated sIPSC frequency (gray). Incubation of VTA slices from control animals with corticosterone increased ethanol-mediated sIPSC frequency in DA neurons up to stress levels (dark blue). Co-incubation with RU486 prevented this increase (light blue). Incubation of brain slices with RU486 and/or corticosterone did not alter basal parameters of sIPSCs (data not shown). Across all groups, ethanol application did not produce significant changes in the sIPSC amplitudes (data not shown, n = 6–10, p > 0.05). **Significantly different from control and RU486-treated groups by t-test, p < 0.01, n = 6–10 cells/group.

A) Spontaneous firing rate of VTA GABA neurons was measured using the cell-attached configuration, and the whole-cell configuration was used to identify GABA neurons electrophysiologically and histochemically upon termination of the recording.
B) VTA GABA neurons displayed fast spontaneous firing rates (> 7 Hz) and lack of I_h current.
C) Neurobiotin-labeled VTA neurons with these electrophysiological properties were immuno-negative for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), consistent with a non-DA phenotype.
D) VTA GABA neurons from stressed rats (red) showed a greater increase in firing rate following ethanol application (grey horizontal bar) than did GABA neurons from the unstressed controls (black). **Significantly different from the control by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.01, n = 9 cells/group.
E) Glutamatergic receptor antagonists (DNQX and AP5) did not prevent the enhanced firing rate of VTA GABA neurons from stressed animals in response to ethanol. **Significantly different from the control by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.01, n = 6–7 cells/group.
F) GABA_A receptor antagonist, picrotoxin, prevented the ethanol-induced increase of GABA neuron firing rates after stress (red), and the firing rate was similar to the unstressed controls (black), n = 7–12 cells/group. The basal firing of VTA GABA neurons was not significantly different between control and stress groups (before ethanol): 11.1 ± 1.4 Hz vs. 11.3 ± 1.3 Hz, p > 0.05, n = 9.

A) VTA GABA neurons were recorded in a cell-attached configuration before and after electrical stimulation of GABA_A receptor inputs. To isolate GABA_A receptor inputs, AMPA, NMDA, and GABA_B receptors were inhibited with antagonists: DNQX, AP5 and CGP55845 respectively.
B) Representative GABA neuron recording from a control animal demonstrated decreased firing rate in response to stimulation of GABAergic input (black). Similar stimulation enhanced the firing rate of VTA GABA neurons from stressed animals (red). For display, the traces were filtered and stimulus artifacts were removed.
C) Mean changes in VTA GABA neuron firing rate from control (black) and stressed (red) rat slices following repetitive stimulation of synaptic GABA inputs. **Significantly different from the control by ANOVA with repeated measures, p < 0.01, n = 8–10 cells/group.
D) Representative VTA GABA neuron recording from a stressed rat demonstrated that in the presence of picrotoxin (upper) or acetazolamide (ACTZ, lower), repetitive stimulation of GABA inputs failed to increase the firing rate.
E) Normalized mean changes in the firing rates of VTA GABA neurons in response to stimulation for each treatment group. Values were averaged over 5 s immediately following termination of the stimulation. In controls, GABA_A receptor-mediated increase in the firing rate was observed after slice incubation with corticosterone (blue). Significantly different from the control by t-test (p < 0.05, *), n = 8–10 cells/group or (p < 0.01, **), n = 6–8 cells/group.

A) In the presence of bath applied acetazolamide (ACTZ), ethanol-induced VTA GABA neuron firing was no longer enhanced after exposure to stress (red) and was similar to the response of the unstressed controls (black). The effect of stress exposure and ethanol application in the absence of acetazolamide from is shown for comparison (dotted red line), n = 8 cells/group. Note, bath application of acetazolamide on VTA slices (before ethanol) did not produce any significant alterations in the mean basal firing rate of GABA neurons between control and stress groups.
B) In the presence of bath ACTZ, ethanol-induced VTA DA neuron firing was no longer attenuated after exposure to stress (red) and was similar to the response of the unstressed controls (black). The effect of stress exposure and ethanol application in the absence of ACTZ from is shown for comparison (dotted red line), n = 10–14 cells/group. Note, bath application of ACTZ on VTA slices (before ethanol) did not produce any significant alterations in the mean basal firing rate of DA neurons between control and stress groups.
C) Stressed animals received intra-VTA infusion of ACTZ or vehicle prior to the onset of baseline microdialysis sample collection. Subsequent ethanol-induced DA release in the NAc was measured.
D) In contrast to vehicle injection (red), ethanol-induced DA levels in the NAc following ACTZ infusion were not blunted (blue) and were similar to the control response from (dotted black line). **Significantly different from the VTA vehicle group by ANOVA with repeated measure, p < 0.01, n = 7 rats/group.
E) Stressed animals received bilateral intra-VTA infusions of ACTZ or vehicle prior to the onset of each self-administration session.
F) ACTZ-infused stressed animals consumed significantly less ethanol (blue) compared to vehicle-infused stressed animals (red). Ethanol consumption in unstressed control rats from is shown for comparison (dotted horizontal line). *Significantly different from the VTA vehicle group by t-test, p < 0.05, n = 10–14 rats/group.

A) GABAergic input onto VTA GABA neurons was recorded using gramicidin perforated patches at different holding potentials to measure stress-induced alterations in anion homeostasis. GABA_A IPSCs were evoked by electrical stimulation in the presence of DNQX, AP5, and CGP55845.
B) Representative IPSCs recordings from control (black) and stressed (red) animals at the given holding potentials. The IPSCs reverse direction at the E_GABA. For display, the traces were filtered and stimulus artifacts were removed.
C) VTA GABA neurons from stressed animals (red, **, p < 0.01 by t-test) demonstrated a significantly more positive E_GABA value compared to neurons from unstressed control animals (black square), n = 10 cells/group.
D) Cl⁻ accumulation was estimated by stimulating repetitive GABA_A receptor input. Upon stimulation (20 Hz, V_h = 0 mV), a representative GABA neuron from a control (black) animal demonstrated a minor depression of IPSC amplitude compared to the significantly greater depression seen in a GABA neuron from a stressed animal (red).
E) At 0 mV, VTA GABA neurons from stressed animals (red) demonstrated a significantly higher rate of evoked IPSC amplitude depression compared to control animals (black). **Significantly different from the control by F-test, p < 0.01, n = 10–17 cells/group.
F) Western blot analysis was conducted for total KCC2 and phosphorylated-S940 KCC2 with GAPDH as a loading control. A representative western blot indicates no differences in total KCC2 expression after stress. However, stressed animals showed reduced expression of pS940 KCC2 relative to total KCC2 when compared to non-stressed controls.
G) Densiometric analysis revealed a significant reduction in the ratio of pS940 KCC2 to total KCC2 protein in stressed animals compared to non-stress controls (horizontal dashed line). *Significantly different from the control by t-test, p < 0.05, n = 10 animals/group.
H) Densiometric analysis revealed a significant reduction in the ratio of pS940 KCC2 to total KCC2 protein in corticosterone-incubated slices from controls *Significantly different from the control by t-test, p < 0.05, n = 16 animals/group.

A) When brain slices were incubated in the KCC2 activator, CLP290, E_GABA was hyperpolarized comparably in VTA GABA neurons from control (black) and stressed (red) animals. The effect of stress exposure on E_GABA in the absence of CLP290 is shown for comparison (open red square), n = 6 cells/group
B) After CLP290 incubation, ethanol-induced VTA DA neuron firing was no longer attenuated after exposure to stress (red) and was similar to the response of the unstressed controls (black). The effect of stress exposure and ethanol application in the absence of CLP290 is shown for comparison (dotted red line), n = 10 cells/group. Note, incubation of VTA slices with CLP290 (before ethanol) did not produce any significant alterations in the mean basal firing rate of DA neurons between control and stress groups.
C) CLP290 was infused bilaterally intra-VTA (40 µM at 0.5 µl/min). After CLP290 administration, stressed animals consumed significantly less ethanol (blue) compared to vehicle-injected stressed animals (red). Ethanol consumption in unstressed control rats is shown for comparison (dotted horizontal line). *Significantly different from the VTA vehicle group by t-test, p < 0.05, n = 12–13 rats/group.