Ethanol-Induced Elevation of 3α-Hydroxy-5α-Pregnan-20-One Does Not Modulate Motor Incoordination in Rats
August 2004
in “
Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research
”
TLDR Ethanol-induced motor incoordination in rats is not affected by increased neuroactive steroids.
The study investigated whether the elevation of GABAergic neuroactive steroids, specifically 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (3α,5α-THP), due to ethanol administration contributed to motor incoordination in rats. Ethanol increased 3α,5α-THP levels significantly in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus but not in the cerebellum and midbrain. Despite these increases, motor incoordination peaked shortly after ethanol administration and was not affected by adrenalectomy or finasteride pretreatment, indicating that the motor impairments caused by ethanol were not mediated by elevated neuroactive steroid biosynthesis. The study concluded that while ethanol elevates neuroactive steroids in a region-specific manner, these steroids do not modulate ethanol-induced motor incoordination.
