Attenuation of ethanol intake by 5-hydroxytryptamine uptake blockade in laboratory rats: II. Possible interaction with brain norepinephrine.

This experiment was undertaken to examine whether the attenuation of ethanol consumption following treatment with zimelidine (H102/09) could be due to an invasion of surplus serotonin into norepinephrine neurons. In an attempt to prevent this proposed invasion by serotonin, ethanol preferring animals were pre-treated with desmethylimipramine (DMI), a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, prior to treatment with zimelidine. The results demonstrated that those animals treated in such a manner consumed significantly more ethanol than those animals treated with zimelidine alone. Based on these results it is suggested that the observed attenuation of ethanol consumption following zimelidine treatment, could be partially due to a serotonin-induced functional depletion of norepinephrine.