Effects of ethanol on alpha-adrenergic and beta-adrenergic agonist-stimulated beta-endorphin release and cAMP production in hypothalamic cells in primary cultures.

We have previously shown that low concentrations of ethanol rapidly stimulate beta-endorphin (beta-EP) release from hypothalamic neurons in primary cultures and that chronic exposures to these concentrations of ethanol desensitize beta-EP neurons to ethanol challenges. We have also shown that chronic ethanol desensitizes dibutyryl cAMP-, adenosine-, and prostaglandin E1-stimulated beta-EP release and the cAMP content in hypothalamic neurons. In this study, we determined the effects of ethanol (50 mM) on beta-adrenergic agonist (isoproterenol) or alpha-adrenergic agonist (l-phenylephrine)-induced beta-EP release and cellular contents of cAMP to identify whether ethanol causes heterologous desensitization of the adenylate cyclase system in this neuronal cell population. Both isoproterenol and l-phenylephrine increased beta-EP levels in culture media and elevated the cAMP content in cell extracts in a concentration (0.1 and 10 microM)-dependent fashion between 3 to 6 hr. A 50 mM dose of ethanol increased beta-EP and cAMP levels at 3 hr, but it did not elevate beta-EP and cAMP levels after 48 hr of exposure. Acute exposure (3 hr) of these cells to ethanol moderately enhanced the isoproterenol-stimulated and l-phenylephrine-stimulated levels of media beta-EP and intracellular levels of cAMP. However, chronic exposure (48 hr) to ethanol reduced the magnitude of both alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptor agonist-stimulated beta-EP release and cAMP production. These results confirm our previous findings that the ethanol action on beta-EP secretion is mediated by the cAMP system and further suggest that chronic ethanol causes heterologous desensitization of the adenylate cyclase system in the beta-EP neuronal cell population.