SOME NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF THE EFFECT OF ETHANOL ON OFFSPRING OF CHRONICALLY ALCOHOL TREATED RATS

Mechanisms of genetically determined alcoholic motivation were studied in chronicaly alcohol treated rats and their offspring using neurochemical, physiological and genetic techniques. Stimulation of the activity of membrane-bound monoamine oxidases, (e.g., in liver or brain), modification of their catalytic properties, partial solubilisation and increased sensitivity towards the transitory inhibiting effect of ethanol were detected in chronically alcohol treated rats, especially in offspring which did not receive chronic alcohol treatment. An altered content of biogenic amines in brain and disturbances of behaviour accompanied impairments in functions of monoamine oxidases. Administration of ethanol was required to restore to normal the disturbances in the neurochemical and physiological parameters studied. The constant presence of ethanol in tissues becomes essential for returning metabolic impairments to normal and may be considered as a molecular basis for the development of alcoholic motivation in offspring of chronically alcohol treated animals. A distinct increase in the expression of the c-fos gene in the brain cortex was observed in offspring of chronically alcohol treated rats after administration of ethanol. The impairments in regulating c-fos gene activity caused by ethanol administration suggest that chronic alcohol treatment of animals may influence the functions of the genome of offspring not subjected to chronic alcohol treatment.