A systematic regional study of brain salsolinol levels during and immediately following chronic ethanol ingestion in rats

Abstract

Regional contents of salsolinol and catecholamines in the brain of normal and ethanol-treated rats were studied. Male Sprague Dawley rats were given ethanol solution as sole drinking fluid for 3, 4, 5 or 6 months. Salsolinol determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry was found to be present in the hypothalamus and the striatum of control rats. The levels of salsolinol in these regions increased significantly by long-term ethanol drinking and rapidly decreased to control levels following its removal. Salsolinol levels in other regions of rat brain were extremely low or negative and unaltered upon chronic ethanol treatment. In ethanol-treated rats the hypothalamic salsolinol, although generally higher than in the striatum, increased along with the ethanol exposure, whereas the striatal salsolinol was constant during those periods of study. Brain dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine contents remained unaltered during and immediately after chronic ethanol treatments. No correlation of salsolinol levels with DA contents or blood ethanol concentrations was observed. The occurrence of salsolinol in selected areas of rat brain with lack of changes in catecholamine level but as a result of an in vivo formation by long-term ethanol drinking was considered to be due to an alteration of acetaldehyde metabolism in the liver and brain.