Active immunization against serum alcohol dehydrogenase normalizes brain dopamine metabolism disturbed during chronic alcohol consumption.

Chronic ethanol consumption in high doses is associated with constitutively elevated activity of the serum alcohol dehydrogenase I (ADH I) isoform, which demonstrates a high affinity not only for ethanol but also for a number of bioamine metabolites. Such excessive ADH activity is probably associated with disruptions in the metabolism of neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) and subsequent long-term changes in the activity of their receptors. Ultimately, a stable depressive-like condition contributes to the development of patients' craving for ethanol intake, frequent disruptions during therapy, and low efficacy of treatment. We applied active immunization against ADH to investigate its efficacy in the reduction of excessive serum ADH activity and regulation of ethanol consumption by chronically ethanol-fed Wistar rats (15% ethanol, 4 months, free-choice method), and we analyzed its ability to influence the levels of bioamines in the brain. Immunization (2 injections, 2-week intervals) was performed using a combination of recombinant horse ADH isozyme as an antigen and 2% aluminum hydroxide-based adjuvant. The efficacy of immunization was demonstrated by the production of high titers of ADH-specific antibodies, which was consistent with the significantly reduced ADH activity in the serum of chronically ethanol-fed rats. On the 26th day after the first vaccine injection, we registered significantly lower levels of alcohol consumption compared to ethanol-fed control animals, and the difference reached 16% on the 49th day of the experiment. These observations were accompanied by data that showed reduced levels of ethanol preference in immunized rats. Chronic alcohol drinking led to a decrease in dopamine and DOPAL (a direct dopamine metabolite and a high-affinity ADH substrate) levels in the striatum,while immunization neutralized this effect. Additionally, we observed that inhibition of serum ADH activity caused a decrease in peak dopamine levels during acute alcohol intake in chronically ethanol-fed rats during ethanol withdrawal that was associated with reduced tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the striatum. The obtained data suggest a significant contribution of ADH to the changes in neurotransmitter systems during chronic alcohol consumption and make available new prospects for developing innovative strategies for treatment of excessive alcohol intake.

Individual roles of brain and serum alcohol dehydrogenase isoforms in regulation of alcohol consumption in SPF Wistar rats.

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) are key enzymes of ethanol metabolism that mediate its oxidation to acetaldehyde. ADHs are also able to oxidize some types of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Increased level of ADHs activity, induced by chronic alcohol consumption, is presumably associated with disturbed neurotransmitters metabolism that leads to stable alcohol craving. As earlier reported, intraperitoneal administration of 4-methilpirasole (non-specific inhibitor of ADHs) has shown to provide a short-term anti-alcoholic effect, but individual roles of ADH isoforms in this process were still unclear. The aim of this work was to study the roles of brain and serum ADH isoforms in alcohol consumption and neurotransmitter metabolism in the rats. In the study we used specific-pathogen-free (SPF) Wistar rats chronically alcoholized with 15% ethanol. 4-methilpirasole intranasal administration in small doses led to local inhibition of ADH III activity in the brain estimated by spectrophotometric assay. It correlated with dose-dependent reduction of dopamine concentration and increased level of its metabolic products in the brain but did not influence alcohol consumption. These data allowed us to propose an important role of brain ADHs (predominantly ADH III) in metabolism of dopamine in chronically alcoholized rats but not in regulation of alcohol consumption. To evaluate the role of serum ADH isoforms we immunized the rats with recombinant horse ADH that led to production of high levels of cross-reactive anti-ADH antibodies verified by ELISA assay. Immunization led to 30% decrease in alcohol consumption and recovery of general behavioral parameters such as motor activity, anxiety and depression level. At the same time active immunization did not cause any impairments in animal blood composition. We can conclude that immunization against ADHs appeared to be a safe way to decrease alcohol consumption that could be possibly associated with neurotransmitters metabolism correction.