[en] The effect of acute IP ethanol injections on the extracellular aspartate, glutamate, taurine and GABA content of the basolateral amygdala microdialysate was investigated in relationship with the total brain ethanol content. Each acute intraperitoneal injection of ethanol, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 g/kg body weight, induced an immediate increase in the microdialysate taurine content; both 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg ethanol evoked an increase during the first 20 minutes following injection which returned to baseline value by 40 minutes despite the fact that ethanol was detectable in the brain until 60 or 120 minutes respectively; after either 2.0 or 3.0 g/kg ethanol there was an increase in taurine content of gradual intensity which gradually declined to reach baseline values by 100 minutes. In contrast, the ethanol concentration for 2.0 g/kg remained elevated at the end of the 120 minutes approximately 25 mg ethanol / mg protein. The stimulated release of taurine within the amygdala could participate in the regulation of the ethanol-induced changes in osmolarity, since taurine is postulated to act as an osmoregulator in the brain. Taurine could also mediate or interact with the ethanol-induced CNS effects, as it exerts a modulatory action on cell excitability and neurotransmitter processes.
Research Center/Unit :
Centre de Neurosciences Cognitives et Comportementales - ULiège
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