[Monoamines and peptidergic Gomori-positive neurosecretory cells of the paraventricular nucleus of the rat hypothalamus in chronic alcohol consumption].

For 6 months the rats were kept on 20 degrees ethanol. Then, the rats could choose whether to drink alcohol (A) or water. The rats formed 2 groups: those preferring A and those preferring water. The control rats were kept on water. The function of hypothalamus monoamine- and peptidergic systems were disturbed following chronic A treatment. Alcohol-preferring, unlike water-preferring rats, have revealed higher hypothalamus levels of serotonin and lower levels of dopamine and noradrenaline, which correlated with changes in fluorescence intensity of hypothalamus noradrenaline structures and were accompanied by remarkable disturbances in nonapeptide neurohormone transport in the paraventricular nucleus region.