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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Assessment of Glutamine as a Fuel Source for Alveolar Macrophages Exposed to Chronic Ethanol Using an Extracellular Flux Bioanalyzer
Published on: November 15, 2024
Ethanol exposure decreases glutamate uptake in the nucleus accumbens
Roberto I Melendez1, Megan P Hicks, Stephanie S Cagle
1Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, 173 Ashley Avenue, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. melendez@musc.edu
Background:
An increased level of extracellular glutamate is a key neurochemical feature associated with ethanol exposure and withdrawal.
Methods:
In the current study, extracellular levels of glutamate and glutamate transport in the nucleus accumbens were assayed 24 hr after repeated ethanol exposure (1 g/kg ip daily for 7 days) with use of in vivo no-net-flux microdialysis and in vitro [(3)H]glutamate uptake, respectively.
Results:
Microdialysis revealed higher extracellular glutamate concentrations in the nucleus accumbens of rats that were given ethanol. The increase in basal extracellular glutamate levels was accounted for in part by a decrease in the in vivo probe recovery of glutamate. Moreover, an in vitro accumbens slice preparation measuring [(3)H]glutamate uptake revealed that Na(+)-dependent [(3)H]glutamate uptake was significantly reduced 24 hr after 7 days of repeated ethanol exposure. The ethanol-induced deficit in glutamate uptake was not associated with decreased total tissue levels of the transporters GLAST or GLT1. The in vivo and in vitro ethanol-induced changes in glutamate levels and uptake returned to control levels 14 days after discontinuing 7 days of repeated ethanol exposure.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that the previously reported increases in extracellular glutamate induced by ethanol exposure may be due in part to deficits in glutamate transport.
