Specific brain proteins during severe ethanol intoxication and withdrawal in the rat.

In a study of the effects of severe chronic ethanol intoxication and withdrawal, immunoelectrophoretic measurements were made of the specific nervous system proteins D1, D2, D3, synaptin, 14-3-2, and glutamine synthetase in the brain. During chronic ethanol intoxication, none of these proteins deviated significantly from normal values, so the structural background for neuronal function was not measurably disturbed by any toxic effect of ethanol. However, during the ethanol withdrawal reaction, the specific concentrations of neuronal proteins D1, D2, 14-3-2, and synaptin were increased, and they subsequently normalized. D3 in brain and D2 in cerebrospinal fluid were decreased and subsequently normalized. When the neuronal localization and the possible function of these proteins are considered, the results may be interpreted as indicating an increased synthesis of neuronal synapses during the ethanol withdrawal reaction accompanied by a transient halt in synaptic decomposition. No changes occurred in the glial marker glutamine synthetase, and thus the measured changes in specific brain protein concentrations apparently reflect the structural dynamics of establishing the substrate for the functional neuronal hyperactivity constituting the ethanol withdrawal reaction.