Adrenalectomy protects ethanol-withdrawn rats from harmine-induced tremor.

A growing number of studies have implicated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in acute and chronic alcoholization and in ethanol withdrawal. In order to study the ethanol/HPA axis interaction during alcohol withdrawal, we performed experiments using adrenalectomized (ADX) male rats alcoholized by a chronic pulmonary alcoholization procedure. Eight hours after the 3 weeks of the alcoholization procedure, the rats were evaluated for a tremor activity. In order to reduce the great variability of the withdrawal tremors, we estimated the supersensitivity of the withdrawn rats to the tremorogenic compound harmine. We also studied the effect of a hydrocortisone treatment given in the drinking bottle during the alcoholization procedure on the harmine-induced tremors of ADX and sham rats. Alcohol withdrawal resulted in increased tremor response to 10 mg/kg harmine, and a protective effect of adrenalectomy on this effect was observed. Hydrocortisone administration to ADX or sham rats did not affect the tremor profile of the alcohol withdrawn rats.