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Ethanol and the NMDA Receptor: Insights into Ethanol Pharmacology

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Neuropharmacology of Ethanol

Abstract

The relationship between lipid solubility and the pharmacological actions of ethanol and other alcohols was demonstrated many years ago (Meyer and Gottlieb, 1926). Since then it has been shown that alcohols can partition into cell membranes and perturb the structure of the bulk membrane lipids (Chin and Goldstein, 1977), and that the intoxicating potency of alcohols is positively correlated with their lipid-perturbing capacity (Lyon et al., 1981). These results led to the hypothesis that the pharmacological actions of ethanol stem from its nonspecific effects on membrane lipid “fluidity” and subsequently a perturbation of the activities of membrane-bound proteins (e.g., receptors, enzymes). However, relatively high concentrations of ethanol are necessary to produce significant increases in membrane lipid fluidity (Chin and Goldstein, 1977; Lyon et al., 1981), and inspection of the literature reveals that the function of few membrane-bound proteins is significantly affected by concentrations of ethanol that are relevant in vivo. There are some exceptions to this observation, including the effects of low concentrations of ethanol on the stimulatory guanine nucleotide binding protein, Gs (Saito et al., 1985; Valverius et al., 1987), and the GABA receptor-coupled chloride channel (Allan and Harris, 1987; Suzdak et al., 1986), which is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter system in the brain.

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Authors
  1. Boris Tabakoff
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  2. Carolyn S. Rabe
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  3. Kathleen A. Grant
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  4. Peter Valverius
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  5. Michael Hudspith
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  6. Paula J. Hoffman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, USA

    Roger E. Meyer M.D.

  2. Department of Psychology, Howard University and O.S.A., N.I.A.A.A., Rockville, MD, 20857, USA

    Michael J. Lewis Ph.D.

  3. Research Institute of the Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    George F. Koob Ph.D.

  4. N.I.H., N.I.M.H., Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    Steven M. Paul M.D.

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Tabakoff, B., Rabe, C.S., Grant, K.A., Valverius, P., Hudspith, M., Hoffman, P.J. (1991). Ethanol and the NMDA Receptor: Insights into Ethanol Pharmacology. In: Meyer, R.E., Lewis, M.J., Koob, G.F., Paul, S.M. (eds) Neuropharmacology of Ethanol. Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1305-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1305-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-1307-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-1305-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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