Read more
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are international problems whose costs economical ly, psychologically and medically have been well documented. Alcohol is a unique drug in that the effects of excessive use can have a deleterious effect on most if not all organs of the body. The brain is one of the organs most affected by excessive alcohol consumption. Effects on the brain can be seen in cognitive function, brain structure and neurochemistry. Over the past few years, there have been significant advances made in understanding how alcohol affects brain neurochemistry. This book examines four major areas, i. e. , membrane lipids, receptors and ion channels, second messengers, and gene expression, where significant advancements have been made. The book is divided into four sections based on the four major areas. In each section, data are examined that cover a range of approaches from in vitro to in vivo studies. The section on membrane lipids includes recent developments in how ethanol affects membrane cholesterol domains, polyunsaturated fatty acids, the cause and consequences of phosphatidylethanol formation, and the modulation of membrane protein function by lipid-protein interaction. The second section comprises chapters on NMDA and 5-HT3 receptors, including new aspects on alcohol neurotoxicity and the molecular heterogeneity that may underlie differences in alcohol sensitivity as well as chapters on GABA-gated chloride flux, and calcium channels.
List of contents
I. Lipid Structure, Domains and Proteins.- Molecular Mechanisms of Ethanol and Anesthetic Actions: Lipid- and Protein-Based Theories.- Membrane Cholesterol and Ethanol: Domains, Kinetics, and Protein Function.- The Effects of Ethanol on Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Composition.- Relevant Effects of Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Synaptic Membrane Responses to Ethanol and Chronic Alcohol Intoxication.- Chronic Ethanol Treatment Increases the Incorporation of [14C]-Serine into Phosphatidylserine in Neuroblastoma x Glioma Cells.- Ethanol-Induced Changes in Signal Transduction via Formation of Phosphatidylethanol.- Phosphatidylethanol Effects on Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Levels and Protein Kinase C Activity in NG108-15 Cells.- Multiple Actions of Ethanol on Acetylcholine Receptors.- II. Receptors and Ion Channels.- Sensitivity of NMDA Receptors to Acute and in Utero Ethanol Exposure.- Neurotransmitter-Gated Ion Channels as Molecular Sites of Alcohol Action.- Molecular Mechanisms of Alcohol Neurotoxicity.- Molecular Properties of an NMD A Receptor Complex and Effects of Ethanol on the Expression of this Complex.- In Vivo Studies of Ethanol Interactions with N-Methyl-D-Asparatate Systems in Rat Brain.- Actions of Alcohols and Other Sedative/Hypnotic Compounds on Cation Channels Associated with Glutamate and 5-HT3 Receptors.- Mechanisms That Mediate Ethanol-Induced Increases in Dihydropyridine-Sensitive Calcium Channels.- Alcohol: Effects on GABAA Receptor Function and Gene Expression.- Control of Alcoholism by Treatment with SKV, a Herbal Drug Mixture from India.- III. Second Messenger Systems and Kinases.- Nucleoside Transport and Ethanol-Induced Heterologous Desensitization.- Effects of Acute and Chronic Ethanol Administration on the Poly-Phosphoinositide SignalingActivity in Brain.- Ethanol and Phospholipid Dependent Signal Transduction: The View from the Liver.- Phospholipase C coupled G-Proteins: Molecular Targets of Ethanol.- Selective Effects of Ethanol on Neuropeptide-Mediated Polyphosphoinositide Hydrolysis and Calcium Mobilization.- The Muscarinic Receptor-Stimulated Phosphoinositide Metabolism as a Potential Target for the Neurotoxicity of Ethanol during Brain Development.- Effects of Ethanol on Receptor-Mediated Phospholipase D Activity in Human Neuroblastoma Cells.- Ethanol and Cell Tyrosine Kinase.- IV. Gene Expression.- Regulation of Neuronal Gene Transcription by Ethanol.- Super-Induction of c-fos-like Protein in Bovine Adrenal Chromaffin Cells Associated with Ethanol Withdrawal.- Effect of Acute and Chronic Administration of Ethanol on c-fos Expression in Brain.
Summary
Proceedings of the Marcus Wallenberg Symposium held in Lund, Sweden, June 28-July 1, 1993
