Abstract
In the search for the primary mechanism underlying the dopamine elevating properties of ethanol we have established that raised levels of taurine in the nucleus accumbens (nAc) is pivotal. In the nAc, the release of taurine appears to be connected to osmoregulation, and neither taurine nor dopamine is increased if ethanol is administered in a hypertonic saline solution. However, even though the nAc is important for drug-reinforcement, manifestation of addiction has been postulated to recruit the more dorsal parts of the striatum (DS). How ethanol influences dopamine and taurine in the DS and their role in addiction is thus far poorly understood. By means of in vivo microdialysis in freely moving rats we concomitantly monitored extracellular levels of dopamine and taurine in the DS following administration of ethanol diluted either in an isotonic or hypertonic saline solution. In a different set of rats, placed in a voluntary ethanol consumption paradigm (intermittent access to 20% ethanol for 2 months), taurine and dopamine were monitored following an acute injection of ethanol. We found that neither administration of ethanol diluted in a hypertonic saline solution, nor 2 months of moderate ethanol consumption, influence the ethanol-induced increase of taurine in the DS. We propose that there may be regional differences in the relationship between taurine, dopamine and ethanol in the nAc and in the DS. It remains to be determined if this subregion-specificity is important for the transition from recreational drug use to a compulsive habit.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- DS:
-
Dorsal striatum
- GABA:
-
Gamma-aminobutyric acid
- GlyR:
-
Glycine receptor
- HPLC:
-
High-performance liquid chromatography
- nAc:
-
Nucleus accumbens
- nAChR:
-
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
- TauT:
-
Taurine transporter
- VTA:
-
Ventral tegmental area
References
Adermark L, Clarke RB, Olsson T, Hansson E, Soderpalm B, Ericson M (2011) Implications for glycine receptors and astrocytes in ethanol-induced elevation of dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. Addict Biol 16:43–54
Allansson L, Khatibi S, Gustavsson T, Blomstrand F, Olsson T, Hansson E (1999) Single-cell volume estimation by three-dimensional wide-field microscopy applied to astroglial primary cultures. J Neurosci Methods 93(1):1–11
Blomqvist O, Ericson M, Engel JA, Soderpalm B (1997) Accumbal dopamine overflow after ethanol: localization of the antagonizing effect of mecamylamine. Eur J Pharmacol 334:149–156
Chen G, Cuzon Carlson VC, Wang J, Beck A, Heinz A, Ron D, Lovinger DM, Buck KJ (2011) Striatal involvement in human alcoholism and alcohol consumption, and withdrawal in animal models. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 35:1739–1748
Clarke DJ, Smith AD, Bolam JP (1983) Uptake of [3H]taurine into medium-size neurons and into identified striatonigral neurons in the rat neostriatum. Brain Res 289:342–348
Clarke RB, Adermark L, Chau P, Soderpalm B, Ericson M (2014) Increase in nucleus accumbens dopamine levels following local ethanol administration is not mediated by acetaldehyde. Alcohol Alcohol 49:498–504
Clarke RB, Soderpalm B, Lotfi A, Ericson M, Adermark L (2015) Involvement of inhibitory receptors in modulating dopamine signaling and synaptic activity following acute ethanol exposure in striatal subregions. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 39:2364–2374
Dahchour A, Quertemont E, De Witte P (1996) Taurine increases in the nucleus accumbens microdialysate after acute ethanol administration to naive and chronically alcoholised rats. Brain Res 735:9–19
De Witte P, Dahchour A, Quertemont E (1994) Acute and chronic alcohol injections increase taurine in the nucleus accumbens. Alcohol Alcohol Suppl 2:229–233
Deleuze C, Duvoid A, Hussy N (1998) Properties and glial origin of osmotic-dependent release of taurine from the rat supraoptic nucleus. J Physiol 507(Pt 2):463–471
Di Chiara G, Imperato A (1988) Drugs abused by humans preferentially increase synaptic dopamine concentrations in the mesolimbic system of freely moving rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 85:5274–5278
Ericson M, Molander A, Lof E, Engel JA, Soderpalm B (2003) Ethanol elevates accumbal dopamine levels via indirect activation of ventral tegmental nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Eur J Pharmacol 467:85–93
Ericson M, Molander A, Stomberg R, Soderpalm B (2006) Taurine elevates dopamine levels in the rat nucleus accumbens; antagonism by strychnine. Eur J Neurosci 23:3225–3229
Ericson M, Chau P, Clarke RB, Adermark L, Soderpalm B (2011) Rising taurine and ethanol concentrations in nucleus accumbens interact to produce dopamine release after ethanol administration. Addict Biol 16:377–385
Gerdeman GL, Partridge JG, Lupica CR, Lovinger DM (2003) It could be habit forming: drugs of abuse and striatal synaptic plasticity. Trends Neurosci 26:184–192
Jamal M, Ameno K, Miki T, Tanaka N, Ito A, Ono J, Takakura A, Kumihashi M, Kinoshita H (2016) Ethanol and acetaldehyde differentially alter extracellular dopamine and serotonin in Aldh2-knockout mouse dorsal striatum: a reverse microdialysis study. Neurotoxicology 52:204–209
Kimelberg HK, Cheema M, O’Connor ER, Tong H, Goderie SK, Rossman PA (1993) Ethanol-induced aspartate and taurine release from primary astrocyte cultures. J Neurochem 60:1682–1689
Lambert IH, Kristensen DM, Holm JB, Mortensen OH (2015) Physiological role of taurine--from organism to organelle. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 213:191–212
Lido HH, Stomberg R, Fagerberg A, Ericson M, Soderpalm B (2009) The glycine reuptake inhibitor org 25935 interacts with basal and ethanol-induced dopamine release in rat nucleus accumbens. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 33:1151–1157
Liu QR, Lopez-Corcuera B, Nelson H, Mandiyan S, Nelson N (1992) Cloning and expression of a cDNA encoding the transporter of taurine and beta-alanine in mouse brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 89:12145–12149
Madsen S, Ottersen OP, Storm-Mathisen J (1987) Immunocytochemical demonstration of taurine. Adv Exp Med Biol 217:275–284
Moran J, Maar TE, Pasantes-Morales H (1994) Impaired cell volume regulation in taurine deficient cultured astrocytes. Neurochem Res 19:415–420
Olive MF (2002) Interactions between taurine and ethanol in the central nervous system. Amino Acids 23:345–357
Packard MG, Knowlton BJ (2002) Learning and memory functions of the Basal Ganglia. Annu Rev Neurosci 25:563–593
Pasantes-Morales H, Alavez S, Sanchez Olea R, Moran J (1993) Contribution of organic and inorganic osmolytes to volume regulation in rat brain cells in culture. Neurochem Res 18:445–452
Quertemont E, Devitgh A, De Witte P (2003) Systemic osmotic manipulations modulate ethanol-induced taurine release: a brain microdialysis study. Alcohol 29:11–19
Shu Z, Taylor IM, Walters SH, Michael AC (2014) Region- and domain-dependent action of nomifensine. Eur J Neurosci 40(2):2320–2328
Simms JA, Steensland P, Medina B, Abernathy KE, Chandler LJ, Wise R, Bartlett SE (2008) Intermittent access to 20% ethanol induces high ethanol consumption in Long-Evans and Wistar rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 32:1816–1823
Smith A, Watson CJ, Frantz KJ, Eppler B, Kennedy RT, Peris J (2004) Differential increase in taurine levels by low-dose ethanol in the dorsal and ventral striatum revealed by microdialysis with on-line capillary electrophoresis. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 28:1028–1038
Soderpalm B, Lof E, Ericson M (2009) Mechanistic studies of ethanol’s interaction with the mesolimbic dopamine reward system. Pharmacopsychiatry 42(Suppl 1):S87–S94
Solis JM, Herranz AS, Herreras O, Lerma J, Martin del Rio R (1988) Does taurine act as an osmoregulatory substance in the rat brain? Neurosci Lett 91:53–58
Spanagel R (2009) Alcoholism: a systems approach from molecular physiology to addictive behavior. Physiol Rev 89:649–705
Vitarella D, DiRisio DJ, Kimelberg HK, Aschner M (1994) Potassium and taurine release are highly correlated with regulatory volume decrease in neonatal primary rat astrocyte cultures. J Neurochem 63:1143–1149
Volkow ND, Fowler JS, Wang GJ, Swanson JM, Telang F (2007) Dopamine in drug abuse and addiction: results of imaging studies and treatment implications. Arch Neurol 64:1575–1579
Wang Y, Palmer MR, Cline EJ, Gerhardt GA (1997) Effects of ethanol on striatal dopamine overflow and clearance: an in vivo electrochemical study. Alcohol 14: 593–601
Wise RA, Rompre PP (1989) Brain dopamine and reward. Annu Rev Psychol 40:191–225
Wozniak KM, Pert A, Linnoila M (1990) Antagonism of 5-HT3 receptors attenuates the effects of ethanol on extracellular dopamine. Eur J Pharmacol 187:287–289
Yin HH, Ostlund SB, Balleine BW (2008) Reward-guided learning beyond dopamine in the nucleus accumbens: the integrative functions of cortico-basal ganglia networks. Eur J Neurosci 28:1437–1448
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Rosita Stomberg for technical support during in vivo microdialysis and HPLC analysis. Susanne Jonsson and Catharina Jonsson for assistance during the voluntary alcohol consumption study. This work was supported by Swedish Medical Research Council (Diary numbers 2014–3888, 2014–3887, and 2015-02894) and the Alcohol Research Council of the Swedish Alcohol Retailing Monopoly.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ulenius, L., Adermark, L., Söderpalm, B., Ericson, M. (2017). Ethanol-Induced Taurine Elevation in the Rat Dorsal Striatum. In: Lee, DH., Schaffer, S.W., Park, E., Kim, H.W. (eds) Taurine 10. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 975. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1079-2_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1079-2_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1077-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1079-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)