Abstract
In rats treated acutely and chronically with ethanol, brain serotonin (5-HT) turnover was determined by measuring in the same animals the rate of accumulation of 5-HT and the rate of decline of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the brain after administration of the MAO inhibitor pargyline-HCl. In the acute study, 5-HT turnover was not altered after a single 4 g/kg oral dose of ethanol. In two separate studies, it was shown that chronic administration of ethanol in the form of a liquid diet for 32 days also did not alter brain 5-HT turnover, even when the rats had developed a significant degree of tolerance to the motor-impairing effects of ethanol. These results suggest that tolerance to ethanol is unrelated to any change in brain 5-HT turnover.
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Frankel, D., Khanna, J.M., Kalant, H. et al. Effect of acute and chronic ethanol administration on serotonin turnover in rat brain. Psychopharmacologia 37, 91–100 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00437416
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00437416