Faculty Bibliography

Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and prostanoid precursor fatty acids enhance the acute sedative effects of ethanol in mice, and reduce the intensity of withdrawal after chronic exposure to ethanol. Aspirin, and other inhibitors of prostanoid synthesis, attenuate ethanol's sedative effects, and interfere with the beneficial effects of prostanoid precursors (but not of PGE1 itself) in withdrawal. Neither aspirin nor indomethacin administered alone affect withdrawal behavior. In contrast, ethanol impairment of rotorod behavior is not affected by prostanoid precursors nor by aspirin. These findings support a role for prostanoids as modulators (? mediators) of certain direct effects of ethanol and a role for prostanoid deficiency in the pathogenesis of withdrawal behavior

The effects of propranolol, 20 to 30 mg/day, on neuroleptic-induced akathesia were compared with those of lorazepam, 2 mg/day, and periods of no treatment. Raters were blind to treatment condition. As reported in prior open studies, propranolol was found to be dramatically effective in reducing akathesia induced by neuroleptic treatment

Local cerebral metabolic rates were determined by positron emission tomography and the deoxyglucose method in a group of 10 chronic schizophrenic subjects before and after somatic treatment and in eight normal subjects. Before treatment, schizophrenic subjects had markedly lower absolute metabolic activity than did normal controls in both frontal and temporal regions and a trend toward relative hyperactivity in the basal ganglia area. After treatment, their metabolic rates approached those seen in normal subjects in nearly all regions except frontal. Persistence of diminished frontal metabolism was manifested as significant relative hypofrontality. These findings suggest specific loci of aberrant cerebral functioning in chronic schizophrenia and the utility of positron emission tomography in characterizing these abnormalities

In the context of recent work showing numerous interactions between ethanol, essential fatty acids (EFA) and prostanoids, we have evaluated the effects of gamma-linolenic acid methyl ester (GLA 99%; 18:3, n-6), on hepatic pathology induced by ethanol in rats. Groups of animals were pair-fed an alcohol-containing liquid diet or an iso-caloric maltose-dextrin diet. Animals fed ethanol for ten days had markedly increased hepatic triglycerides and histological evidence of fatty liver. These effects were partially attenuated by administration of GLA during the period of ethanol administration