Central Norepinephrine Metabolism During Alcohol Intoxication in Addicts and Healthy Volunteers
- 4 September 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 213 (4512), 1135-1137
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7268421
Abstract
The concentrations of the major norepinephrine metabolite, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol (MOPEG), in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid of alcoholic patients were markedly elevated during intoxication and successively declined during 1 and 3 weeks of abstinence. During intoxication the MOPEG concentration in cerebrospinal fluid showed a statistically significant correlation with the blood alcohol concentration. In healthy volunteers who received 80 grams of ethanol, the MOPEG concentration in cerebrospinal fluid increased significantly. Healthy subjects sampled during intoxication had significantly higher concentrations of MOPEG in the cerebrospinal fluid than did subjects sampled after the end of intoxication. The results indicate that alcohol administration markedly stimulates norepinephrine metabolism in the central nervous system in human subjects possibly by increasing unit impulse activity of central noradrenergic neurons.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Relationships in Healthy Volunteers Between Concentrations of Monoamine Metabolites in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Family History of Psychiatric MorbidityThe British Journal of Psychiatry, 1980
- Locus coeruleus stimulation increases noradrenergic metabolite levels in rat spinal cordBrain Research, 1979
- Noradrenergic role in the self-administration of ethanolPharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 1978
- The circadian variation of catecholamine metabolism in the subhuman primateBrain Research, 1978
- Effect of acute ethanol treatment on transmitter synthesis and metabolism in central dopaminergic neuronsJournal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 1976
- BRAIN CONCENTRATIONS OF BIOGENIC AMINE METABOLITES IN ACUTELY TREATED AND ETHANOL‐DEPENDENT RATSBritish Journal of Pharmacology, 1976
- Effect of ethanol on dopamine synthesis and release from rat corpus striatumBiochemical Pharmacology, 1976
- Antagonism by alpha methyltyrosine of the ethanol‐induced stimulation and euphoria in manClinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 1973
- Significance of acetaldehyde in ethanol-induced effects on catecholamine metabolism and motor activity in the mousePsychopharmacology, 1973
- Inhibition of ethanol-induced excitation in mice and rats by ?-methyl-p-tyrosinePsychopharmacology, 1972