Protein turnover in brain during the development of alcohol dependence.

The chronic effect of ethanol on central nervous system protein turnover was investigated in selected regions of brain following intoxication and withdrawal in a strain of ethanol preferring mice. Mice were serially injected with [14C]glucose in order to achieve a constant specific radioactivity of brain glutamate. Protein turnover was calculated from the specific activities of extracted protein and free glutamate. Results from these studies show that ethanol causes a significant increase in protein turnover in all sections of brain. The brain protein turnover in animals following alcohol withdrawal also shows an increase which deviates significantly from controls in 2 of the 3 regions examined.