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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
Published on: June 23, 2023
Ethanol oxidation in the living brain
Sergey M Zimatkin1, Alexander L Buben
1Grodno State Medical University, 80 Gorkogo Street, Grodno, 230015, Belarus. zimatkin@grsmu.by
Aim:
The examination of the possibility of ethanol oxidation in the brain in vivo and the evaluation of the enzyme catalase in this process.
Methods:
We anesthetized rats and perfused the brain with ethanol solutions through the lateral ventricle and collected the perfusate from the Cisterna magna. We determined ethanol and acetaldehyde in the perfusate by gas chromatography.
Results:
It was found that the passage of ethanol solution (85 and 90 mM) through the ventricular system of the rat brain (6-43 microl/min) results in the significant (up to 98%) elimination of ethanol from the perfusing fluid and in the appearance of acetaldehyde (up-to 60 microM) in the perfusate. The addition of the catalase inhibitor, aminotriazole, (10 mM) to the perfusing fluid decreased ethanol elimination significantly.
Conclusions:
The ethanol oxidation and AA accumulation take place in the living brain. The enzyme catalase is involved in this process.
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