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Liver damage, voluntary alcohol intake and brain histamine
W A Fogel1, W Andrzejewski, C Maslinski
1Department of Biogenic Amines, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz.
Agents and Actions
|May 1, 1991
Summary
Protocaval anastomosis (PCA) in rats increases voluntary alcohol intake despite reduced liver enzyme activity. Chronic alcohol exposure alters hypothalamic histamine and histidine levels in PCA rats, but not controls.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Hepatology
- Alcohol Metabolism
Background:
- Protocaval anastomosis (PCA) in rats leads to liver dysfunction, significantly reducing hepatic alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities.
- Despite impaired alcohol metabolism, PCA rats exhibit increased voluntary alcohol consumption compared to unoperated controls.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neurochemical changes, specifically hypothalamic histamine and histidine levels, associated with exaggerated alcohol intake in PCA rats.
- To examine the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on alcohol metabolism and hypothalamic neurochemistry in both PCA and control rats.
Main Methods:
- Surgical creation of protocaval anastomosis (PCA) in rats.
- Assessment of voluntary and forced alcohol consumption.
- Measurement of hepatic alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities.
- Quantification of hypothalamic histamine and histidine levels.
- Chronic alcohol administration and subsequent analysis.
Main Results:
- PCA rats showed significantly higher voluntary alcohol intake and maintained this intake under forced consumption, unlike controls who developed aversion.
- PCA rats exhibited elevated hypothalamic histamine and histidine levels.
- Chronic alcohol exposure led to a slight decrease in hypothalamic histidine and histamine in PCA rats, but not in controls.
- Hepatic alcohol metabolizing enzymes were stimulated by chronic alcohol treatment in both PCA and control rats.
Conclusions:
- Altered hypothalamic histamine and histidine may play a role in the exaggerated alcohol intake observed in PCA rats.
- Chronic alcohol consumption impacts hypothalamic neurochemistry differently in rats with PCA-induced liver dysfunction.
- Despite liver dysfunction, PCA rats demonstrate a unique response to alcohol, highlighting complex interactions between hepatic and neural pathways in alcohol consumption.