ABSTRACT
Summary. The effect of different taurine doses (0.050, 0.125, 0.250, 0.500 and 1.000 g/kg) administered intraperitoneally to Wistar rats was studied in both the plasma and the hippocampal microdialysate content. The samples were analyzed by reverse phased HPLC for the microdialysate samples and by HPLC with ion-exchange post-column derivatization (ninhydrin) for the plasma samples. In both plasma and microdialysate, we observed a dose dependent increase of taurine concentration. The AUC curves obtained from both microdialysate and plasma samples showed that the increase of taurine concentrations were linear. The mean ratio between AUC's microdialysate and plasma was 1.63+/-0.21 showing thus an unbalance between plasma and brain taurine content; a mechanism which enhance taurine transfer from the plasma to the brain was assumed.
Subject(s)
Brain/metabolism , Taurine/blood , Taurine/metabolism , Animals , Area Under Curve , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Hippocampus/metabolism , Injections, Intraperitoneal , Male , Microdialysis , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Taurine/pharmacokinetics , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The withdrawal syndrome in alcohol-dependent patients appears to be a major stressful event whose intensity increases with repetition of detoxifications according to a kindling process. Disturbances in the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neural processes are reflected in a perturbed physical state while disturbances in the balance between positive and negative reinforcements are reflected in a perturbed mood state. Our purpose is to link the different behavioral outcomes occurring during withdrawal with specific biological brain mechanisms from the animal to the human being. Better understanding of the various biological mechanisms underlying withdrawal from alcohol will be the key to design and to apply appropriate pharmaceutical management, together with appropriate therapy aimed at inducing protracted abstinence.
