Excitatory and inhibitory amino acid changes during repeated episodes of ethanol withdrawal: an in vivo microdialysis study

Changes in amino acid levels in the hippocampus during repeated ethanol withdrawal were studied. Wistar rats were made ethanol-dependent by 4-week vapour inhalation. After this first cycle of chronic ethanol treatment, rats underwent repeated and alternate cycles of 24 h of withdrawal followed by 1 week of chronic ethanol treatment. The microdialysis technique was used together with high-performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection to separate and quantify different amino acids such as aspartate, glutamate, arginine, taurine, alanine and gamma-aminobutyric acid. During the first cycle of ethanol withdrawal, increases in glutamate, taurine and alanine levels were observed. During the third withdrawal period, further increases were detected in aspartate, glutamate, taurine and alanine in the comparison with levels in the control group. However, the arginine level during the third withdrawal period decreased when compared to that after the first withdrawal period. The results of this study demonstrate that excitatory amino acid levels increased with subsequent withdrawal periods.