Adrenalectomy reduces alcohol-stimulated activity: blood and brain alcohol content

It has been shown that adrenal glucocorticoids have a permissive role in some of the actions of alcohol. To determine if an intact adrenal was necessary for the stimulation of locomotor activity, 24 female C3H mice were tested for open field activity with ethanol or saline. Two weeks after adrenalectomy or sham surgery, animals were tested for activity again with ethanol or saline. One week later, alcohol disappearance curves were generated for blood and brain. Adrenalectomy reduced but did not abolish the alcohol-stimulated locomotor activity. In addition, adrenalectomy significantly reduced estimated peak alcohol levels in blood and brain but significantly reduced the disappearance rate for alcohol only in brain. These data suggest that adrenalectomy significantly changes alcohol distribution, with greater impact on brain alcohol levels than on blood levels, and that this may be responsible, at least in part, for the reduction in stimulated locomotor activity.