Ethanol administration in vivo alters calcium ions control in rat striatum.

The present paper investigates the effect of chronic ethanol treatment administered through drinking water on [3H]nitrendipine binding and 45Ca uptake in rat striatum. The calcium-independent [3H]nitrendipine binding was slightly increased in treated rats, while the calcium stimulation of the binding was reduced to one fifth of the controls. In striatal slices prepared from a similar group of ethanol-treated rats the K+-stimulated 45Ca uptake was greatly reduced. These results are the first evidence of calcium-antagonist binding-site 'plasticity' following an in vivo pharmacological manipulation correlated with a change in calcium ion transport. In addition, the effect of ethanol on calcium-entry regulation may be a mechanism important for the understanding of its neurotoxic action.