Ethanol markedly increases “GABAergic” neurosteroids in alcohol-preferring rats

Alcohol administration (1 g/kg, i.p.) increased the levels of the neurosteroids 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (allopregnanolone) and 3α,21-dihydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone, THDOC) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus both in alcohol-naive Sardinian alcohol-preferring (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of pharmacology 1999-11, Vol.384 (2), p.R1-R2
Main Authors: Barbaccia, Maria Luisa, Affricano, Daniela, Trabucchi, Marco, Purdy, Robert H, Colombo, Giancarlo, Agabio, Roberta, Gessa, Gian Luigi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol
Alcohol Drinking - genetics
Alcohol Drinking - physiopathology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - drug effects
Brain - metabolism
Brain neurosteroid
Cerebral Cortex - drug effects
Cerebral Cortex - metabolism
Desoxycorticosterone - analogs & derivatives
Desoxycorticosterone - blood
Desoxycorticosterone - metabolism
Ethanol - administration & dosage
Hippocampus - drug effects
Hippocampus - metabolism
Injections, Intraperitoneal
Male
Medical sciences
Neuropharmacology
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Psycholeptics: tranquillizer, neuroleptic
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
Rats
Receptors, GABA - physiology
Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) and -non-preferring (sNP) rat
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Summary:Alcohol administration (1 g/kg, i.p.) increased the levels of the neurosteroids 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (allopregnanolone) and 3α,21-dihydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone, THDOC) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus both in alcohol-naive Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) and -non-preferring (sNP) rats (two rat lines selectively bred for alcohol preference and non-preference, respectively). However, the increase reached several fold higher levels in sP than in sNP rats (6–24 vs. 2–11 fold the basal levels, respectively). Since the two neurosteroids are the most potent endogenous positive modulators of GABA A receptors and elicit anxiolytic and rewarding effects, while voluntary alcohol consumption produces anxiolytic and rewarding effects in sP but not in sNP rats, the results suggest that the neurosteroids may play a role in the anxiolytic and rewarding effects of alcohol in sP rats.
ISSN:0014-2999
1879-0712
DOI:10.1016/S0014-2999(99)00678-0