Cortical cups for collecting free acetylcholine in awake rats.
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Acetylcholine↗
Biomedical subjects
C K Erickson
Publications and source records attributed to C K Erickson.
Effects of different liquid diets and sustained ethanol release on alcohol metabolism.
The effects of two liquid diets, Sustacal and Shorey-AIN, on liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity and ethanol clearance were tested in rats under conditions of high ethanol exposure for nine days. High blood ethanol levels (BEL) were produced through a combination of an initial intubated dose of ethanol sustained ethanol release tube (SERT), and ethanol as 37% of total energy in the liquid diet. Under free-feeding conditions, rats consumed slightly more ethanol per unit body weight in the Shorey-AIN diet, a diet formulated for rodent nutrition, than in the Sustacal diet, a diet originally intended for human consumption. However, BEL were significantly higher in the Sustacal group than in the Shorey-AIN group. No differences in ethanol clearance rates were observed between the groups. On the other hand, total liver ADH activity was significantly reduced in both the Shorey AIN/ethanol and the Sustacal/ethanol groups, compared to lab chow controls. When the Sustacal diet was fortified with casein and methionine so that the protein content matched that of the Shorey AIN diet, the BEL were no longer significantly higher than those produced by the Shorey AIN/ethanol diet. The results demonstrate the effect of nutritional factors on BEL under conditions of high ethanol load. However, these factors do not appear to alter major characteristics of ethanol metabolism and clearance in our short-term experiments.
Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
Reviews and comments on alcohol research.
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Accidents, Traffic↗
Reviews and comments on alcohol research.
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Alcoholism↗
Gastric contents alter blood alcohol levels and clearance after parenteral ethanol.
Several different substances, including water, charcoal, fructose, montmorillonite clay, and liquid diets used for chronic ethanol exposure, were given intragastrically to rats, followed by a low dose of ethanol injected subcutaneously. Peak blood alcohol levels (BAL) and ethanol clearance rates were found to differ depending upon the type of gastric contents. As expected, fructose lowered peak BAL and increased ethanol clearance, and charcoal lowered peak BAL, but decreased ethanol clearance. Two liquid diets, Shorey and Sustacal, when compared to an intragastric water load, also lowered peak BAL and increased ethanol clearance of subcutaneously-administered ethanol. The difference between intragastric water and Shorey liquid diet was also seen when ethanol was administered intravenously, suggesting that absorption of ethanol from the subcutaneous site was not being affected. When sleep-inducing doses of ethanol were given subcutaneously, intragastric substances did not produce differences in sleeptimes. In in vitro studies, only charcoal was able to bind ethanol, presumably by absorption onto charcoal particles. Volume of distribution measurements were inversely related to the peak BALs measured at 60 minutes after injection, suggesting that ethanol was partitioning between the blood and stomach contents. We conclude that the presence in the stomach of various substances can lower peak BAL and increase ethanol clearance in a rapid fashion, primarily through a change in volume of distribution and possibly through a rapid change in stomach or liver metabolism of ethanol.
Animals↗
Lowering of blood ethanol by activated carbon products in rats and dogs.
Earlier studies on the effects of activated carbon (charcoal) on blood alcohol levels (BAL) in animals have been conflicting. The present study was designed to study the effects of a commercially available product (Charcoaid) and a new patented product (Alcosorb), in capsules and in suspension on the BAL of rats and dogs. We compared peak BAL and the regression of BAL with time during ethanol clearance in rats given 1.5 g/kg of carbon products in sorbitol intragastrically, followed 5 min later by 3.5 g/kg ethanol intragastrically. Peak BAL were significantly higher after Charcoaid 1 h after intubation, compared to Alcosorb and sorbitol (vehicle for the charcoal suspension). A study in which ethanol was given intraperitoneally instead of intragastrically showed no differences in ethanol BAL produced by the intragastric carbon treatments. In a crossover study using Beagle dogs, 780 mg capsules of carbon products ("low dose") given 5 min before ethanol had no significant effect on BAL. A "high" dose of 20 g of charcoal products suspended in water, followed by ethanol intragastrically, was also ineffective in lowering blood ethanol. However, carbon products suspended in a water/ethanol vehicle (20% w/v) did significantly lower peak BAL. We conclude that carbon products significantly lower BAL in rats and dogs, and that in rats, Alcosorb and sorbitol produce a greater BAL lowering effect than Charcoaid for a brief time after administration. The mechanisms of the BAL lowering effect by sorbitol and charcoal products are probably different.
Animals↗
Drug abuse and dependency: understanding gender differences in etiology and management.
OBJECTIVE: To review the etiology, consequences, and treatment needs of drug abuse and dependency, especially in women. DATA SOURCES: Original studies and literature reviews published primarily since 1990. DATA SYNTHESIS: Many studies, conducted mostly during the past 10 years, are providing new information regarding the genesis of two separate drug problems: willful abuse (misuse) of drugs and pathological drug dependency. Recent studies have also highlighted important differences between the sexes in the causes, consequences, and management of drug abuse and dependency. The neurobiologic and genetic contributions to the pathological disease of addiction provide important directions for future treatments, as a supplement to existing self-help and structured behavioral therapies. Pharmacotherapy also has an important role in reducing drug craving and relapse in addicted patients. CONCLUSION: Although the precise causes of drug abuse and dependency continue to challenge researchers, important differences have been identified between men and women in terms of how drug use begins, how it progresses, and effective methods of treatment. Pharmacists and other health care professionals need to understand gender differences in the etiology and management of drug abuse and dependency and develop the capacity to recognize and refer women who may be abusing or dependent on drugs.
Adolescent↗
Ethanol clearance in nine inbred rat strains.
The rate of ethanol disappearance was determined for each of eight inbred rat strains and the N/Nih line of heterogeneous rats. There are significant differences in ethanol elimination rates in the strains tested. Females have rates significantly different from those of males in five of the eight inbred strains and in the N/Nih line. Castration of males alters the rate of elimination only in the F344/N strain.
Animals↗
An animal model for low dose ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation: behavioral characteristics.
The present paper describes a rat strain, Maudsley reactive (MR/N), which dramatically and reliably shows enhanced locomotor stimulation in an openfield apparatus after low doses of ethanol. Other strains, Sprague-Dawley and Wistar inbred, do not show stimulation, whereas Maudsley nonreactive rats show a less dramatic and variable response to ethanol, compared to the MR/N strain. Female MR/N rats show greater stimulation than male MR/N rats, and the response is dose-, age-, and apparatus-related. We conclude that low dose ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation in the MR/N rat strain could be a valuable rodent model for studying central neurochemical correlates of alcohol intoxication.
Age Factors↗