The effects of subhypnotic doses of ethanol on regional catecholamine turnover.

A 2 g/kg dose of ethanol given intraperitoneally to rats significantly reduced the turnover of dopamine in the substantia nigra and caudate nucleus, increased dopamine turnover in the olfactory tubercle and had no effect on dopamine turnover in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and hypothalamus. The same dose of ethanol decreased the probenecid-induced homovanillic acid accumulation in the caudate nucleus. The turnover of norepinephrine was also decreased in hypothalamus and increased in the pons medulla region. No change in norepinephrine turnover was observed in frontal cortex, parietal cortex, cerebellum, amygdala, hippocampus and locus ceruleus region. The distribution of ethanol was similar in cortex, caudate nucleus, hypothalamus and pons-medulla. Catecholamine turnover in different brain regions seems to be differentially sensitive to the effects of ethanol, with most regions being unaffected by ethanol.