Alcohol Preference in the Rat: Reduction Following Depletion of Brain Serotonin

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Abstract
Preference for ethyl alcohol was significantly reduced or totally abolished in rats given orally p -chlorophenylalanine, a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor that selectively depletes brain serotonin. Some aversion to alcohol was observed while p -chlorophenylalanine was administered, but the rats' rejection of alcohol was even more marked after the drug was discontinued. Oral administration of α-methyl- p -tyrosine, a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor that depletes brain catecholamines, slightly reduced selection of alcohol, but preference returned to normal as soon as α-methyl- p -tyrosine was terminated.

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