Central effects of acamprosate: part 1. Acamprosate blocks the glutamate increase in the nucleus accumbens microdialysate in ethanol withdrawn rats.

One of the known behavioral actions of acamprosate is to decrease hypermotility during alcohol withdrawal. However, the mechanism of this effect remains unclear. In this study, the concentrations of excitatory and inhibitory amino acids were assayed by the microdialysis technique with OPA/BME precolumn derivatization and electrochemical detection in the nucleus accumbens of male Wistar rats which were either alcoholized by ethanol inhalation or simultaneously alcoholized and treated orally by acamprosate (400 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks. Without treatment, extracellular glutamate increased during the withdrawal phase, while other amino acids tested (aspartate, arginine, taurine, alanine and GABA) remained stable. In contrast, the alcoholized rats treated with acamprosate failed to present the increase in glutamate during ethanol withdrawal, while other amino acids tested also remained stable. The observed glutamate increase could be responsible for the hyperexcitability observed during episodes of ethanol withdrawal. These results suggest that acamprosate is able to reduce the ethanol withdrawal syndrome by reducing the concentration of glutamate in the nucleus accumbens.