Inhibition by naloxone of the rise in hypothalamic dopamine and serum prolactin induced by ethanol.

We investigated the effect of naloxone on the concentration of dopamine in the hypothalamus and on the concentration of prolactin in serum and anterior pituitary of male rats acutely treated with ethanol. Acute ethanol administration increased serum prolactin levels and hypothalamic dopamine concentration. Pituitary prolactin was not modified by this treatment. Naloxone administered 15 min before the animals were sacrificed decreased serum prolactin levels and hypothalamic dopamine concentration in ethanol-treated rats. These results suggest that ethanol increases prolactin secretion because it decreases the release of dopamine by the hypothalamus. Naloxone decreases prolactin release probably because it antagonizes the inhibitory action of opioids on dopaminergic neurons.