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Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activities in the Brains of Rats and Mice Genetically Selected for Different Sensitivity to Alcohol
Author(s) -
Zimatkin Sergey M.,
Deitrich Richard A.
Publication year - 1995
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.1530-0277.1995.tb01615.x
Subject(s) - aldehyde dehydrogenase , alcohol dehydrogenase , ethanol , adh1b , aldehyde , aldh2 , alcohol , biochemistry , acetaldehyde , sleep (system call) , chemistry , enzyme , dehydrogenase , biology , endocrinology , medicine , branched chain alpha keto acid dehydrogenase complex , operating system , computer science , catalysis
Aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in brain has been studied for many years. However, the question of its role in the actions of ethanol in the brain has not been resolved. We have utilized mice and rats selectively bred for sensitivity or resistance to the initial hypnotic effects of ethanol to gain some insight into the possible involvement of brain aldehyde dehydrogenase in the actions of ethanol. We compared the levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in the brains of these selected lines of rodents by histochemical methods. It was found that, although aldehyde dehydrogenase activity was detected in many areas of the brain, only in the cerebellar Purkinje cells was there a difference between sensitive and resistant lines of mice or rats. The resistant lines (Short Sleep mice and Low Alcohol Sensitive rats) had statistically higher levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase than did the sensitive lines (Long Sleep mice and High Alcohol Sensitive rats). Although this does not prove that aldehyde dehydrogenase or aldehydes are involved in the central actions of ethanol, it provides another piece of evidence in this direction.