Neurotransmitter levels and [3H]muscimol binding sites in the brain of rats selectively bred for alcohol preference and non-preference.

Alcohol-naive high- (Warsaw High Preferring; WHP) and low- (Warsaw Low Preferring; WLP) preferring lines of rat were studied to determine the distribution and density of [3H]muscimol binding sites in the brain using quantitative autoradiography. The results have shown no difference in the density of [3H]muscimol binding sites in the cingulate and frontal cortex, dorsal and ventral striatum, lateral and medial septum, caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens in the both lines of animals. In the separate experiments, the levels of neurotransimitters were measured in the frontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum of the WHP and WLP rats. The content of dopamine was significantly lower in the striatum of the WHP rats as compared to the WLP animals. The levels of serotonin and noradrenaline were without any important differences in the examined structures of both lines of rats.