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Effects of Acute and Chronic Ethanol and Dihydroergotoxine (Hydergine) on Neurotransmitter Enzymes in Brain
Author(s) -
Hsu Louise L.,
Sarnorajski Thaddeus,
Claghorn James L.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1983.tb05453.x
Subject(s) - striatum , endocrinology , choline acetyltransferase , medicine , hippocampus , cerebellum , hypothalamus , glutamate decarboxylase , chemistry , enzyme assay , cholinergic , dopamine , enzyme , biochemistry
The effects of acute and chronic ethanol (ETOH) and dihydroerge toxine mesylate (DHET) alone or in combination on choline acetyl‐transferase (ChAT), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), acetylcho‐linesterase (AChE), and acetylcoenzyme A hydrolase (AcCoA‐H) were investigated in various brain regions of young adult male mice. Acute ETOH, an hour after a single dose of 2 g/Kg, did not affect these enzyme activities in any brain regions examined although it inhibited the locomotor activity of these animals. Acute DHET, an hour after a single dose of 2 mg/Kg, significantly increased (17%) ChAT activity in corpus striatum only and stimulated the locomotor activity of the mice. Acute ETOH + DHET had no effects on these enzymes either. Chronic ETOH significantly increased ChAT activity in cerebelium (45%), corpus striatum (21%), and hypothalamus (82%) but decreased the enzyme activity in hippocampus by 16%. Chronic DHET significantly increased ChAT activity in corpus striaturn (24%), hypothalamus (80%), and midbrain (16%), and significantly increased AChE in brainstem (20%) and corpus striatum (45%). Chronic ETOH + DHET significantly increased both ChAT (11%) and GAD (14%) activity only in corpus striatum. These results confirm the reported alterations of cholinergic and GABAnergic systems in brain after chronic administration of ethanol, and further support the morphologic changes observed in human mammillary body, corpus striatum, hippocampus, and cerebellum after chronic alcoholiam. In addition, these data also suggest that corpus striatum and hypothalamus are the brain areas most sensitive to chronic DHET exposure.