Investigation of the effects of moclobemide in chronic ethanol feeding rats

Effects of chronic moclobemide administration on ethanol consumption, blood ethanol level, motor coordination and seizures induced by an audiogenic stimulus during ethanol withdrawal syndrome have been investigated in chronically ethanol intoxicated rats. Adult male Wistar rats (211-289 g) were used. Ethanol (7.2% v/v) was given to rats by a special liquid diet for 15 days. Moclobemide (10, 30 and 45 mg kg-1) or saline was injected to ethanol-feeding rats subcutaneously through 15 days. Daily ethanol intake and body weight gain of the rats were recorded. Blood ethanol levels were measured in rats given saline or chronic moclobemide (30 mg kg-1) just before and 6 h after ethanol withdrawal. At the sixth hour of the ethanol withdrawal, the incidence, intensity and latency of the seizures induced by an audiogenic stimulus were recorded in saline and acute (30 mg kg-1) or chronic (10, 30 and 45 mg kg-1) moclobemide-administered rats. Accelerod performances of the chronic moclobemide (45 mg kg-1) or saline injected rats were also evaluated. The mean ethanol intake of the rats ranged from 10.06 to 15.63 g kg-1 day-1 during the study. Chronic moclobemide treatment did not occur any significant effect on daily ethanol consumption, ethanol clearance and accelerod performances of the rats. No significant changes on the incidence, intensity and the latency of the audiogenic seizures were also observed. Our results suggest that there has been no adverse interaction between ethanol and moclobemide.