The ethanol withdrawal syndrome in the rat: effects of drug treatment on adrenal gland and urinary catecholamines.

It has been found that a short period of severe intoxication with ethanol produces a marked reduction of adrenal catecholamines. Animals so treated demonstrate moderate to severe withdrawal signs. Accordingly, adrenal and urinary catecholamines were determined in rats undergoing withdrawal after treatment with several drugs known to modify sympathetic function. The depressant diazepam obtained withdrawal severity without altering peripheral catecholamines, propranolol reduced urinary catecholamines and transiently ameliorated withdrawal, whereas hexamethonium elevated urinary catecholamines and enhanced the severity of withdrawal. No drug treatment modified adrenal catecholamine levels. In this model the attenuation of adrenergic function has no consistent influence on the manifestation of withdrawal after ethanol.