Neuroadaptive responses to chronic ethanol.

Cellular responses of neuronal tissue to chronic ethanol exposure are reviewed. Evidence for adaptive responses to the acute actions of ethanol is available for five systems: GABA-activated chloride channels, voltage-sensitive calcium channels, NMDA-activated cation channels, receptors coupled through stimulatory guanine nucleotide binding proteins, and membrane lipid order. We suggest that at least some of these adaptive responses occur because of ethanol actions at the level of gene expression.