Formation of aberrant neurotransmitters and its implication for alcohol addiction and intoxication

The possible involvement of false neurotransmitters in the biological aspects of addiction to alcohol has been reviewed and discussed. Current evidence is somewhat ambiguous, although suggestive, of a cause-effect relationship between possible metabolic products of biogenic amines (i.e., tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives etc.) and addiction. A novel hypothesis of the mode of action of these derivatives developed on the basis of experiments in the reviewer's laboratory is also discussed. According to the latter hypothesis, alkaloid formation may occur in vivo at the membranous level in situ, by interaction of indoleamines and (or) catecholamines with the products of polypeptide chains and thereby modifying the properties of plasmalemmal membranes.