Carbamazepine and ethanol elicited responses in rodents.

The interaction between carbamazepine, and anticonvulsant with clinical efficacy in alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and ethanol was studied in rodents. Voluntary intake of ethanol by the rat was the behavioral performance test used to assess one aspect of such interaction. Carbamazepine, 50 mg/kg, IP, caused aversion to ethanol drinking. The drug was devoid of action on rat hepatic ethanol and acetaldehyde metabolizing enzymes, i.e., alcohol- and aldehyde dehydrogenase, and on testicular aldehyde dehydrogenase. The moderate induction of the latter by prolonged ethanol consumption was antagonized by a single dose of carbamazepine (50 mg/kg). Administration of carbamazepine, 50 mg/kg twice daily for three consecutive days, moderately inhibited mouse liver alcohol dehydrogenase in the male but not in the female mouse. This treatment did not alter endogenous mouse cardiac lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes or hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase in either sex. The enzymatic portion of the study suggests species and sex differences in the effects of carbamazepine studied. The reduction of voluntary drinking of ethanol by carbamazepine may have clinical implications, e.g., the extension of its use in alcohol withdrawal phase to alcohol abstinence.