PMID: 9444785Jan 28, 1998Paper

Alcohol consumption alters monoamine oxidase activities in brain structures: relation to ethanol craving

Casopís lékar̆ů c̆eských
S ZimatkinV V Lelevich

Abstract

In spite of numerous biochemical studies the role of brain monoamine oxidase (MAO, EC 1.4, 3.4) in the mechanisms of central alcohol action and the pathogenesis of alcoholism remains unclear. The possible reason of that is the highly heterogeneous distribution of the enzyme in a brain and the different direction of alcohol-induced changes of MAO in various morphological structures. Therefore we used the histochemical approach for examination of the effect of chronic alcohol consumption on MAO A and B activities in definite brain structures: various types of aminergic neurons, glial cells and blood capillaries. For 6 months 180 inbred male rats consumed 15% ethanol as the only source of drinking (mean alcohol consumption was 6 g/kg/day). On the 5-6th months of the experiment animals with maximal (ethanol preferring, EP) or minimal (water preferring, WP) alcohol craving were chosen by testing for free choice between 15% (v/v) ethanol solution and water (3 times, during 2 days, at 2-week intervals). The animals chosen were sacrificed and brain samples were studied by our quantitative histochemical method (23). It was found, that chronic ethanol consumption induced dramatic disturbances in MAO activities in the brain structures str...Continue Reading

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