A HOMOTAURINE DERIVATIVE REDUCES THE VOLUNTARY INTAKE OF ETHANOL BY RATS - ARE CEREBRAL GABA RECEPTORS INVOLVED

The effects of some derivaties of homotaurine (3 APS), the well known GABA agonist, were tested on the voluntary intake of ethanol by rats. Spontaneously ethanol drinking rats (DR) were selected and had a constant voluntary intake of a 12% ethanol solution (VIE) during 14 days (.apprx. 5 g/kg body wt daily). Calcium acetylhomotaurine (0.26 and 0.52 mmol/kg daily i.p.) significantly reduced VIE and this was inhibited by the GABA antagonist bicuculline (2 mg/kg i.p.). The conditioned aversion test to saccharin was negative. Bicuculline alone did not affect VIE. Other homotaurine (3-APS) derivatives: sodium acetyl homotaurine (Na AOTA), homotaurine (OTA), sodium acetyltaurine (Na A TA) and CaCl2 did not affect VIE. Evidently, the GABAergic system could be implicated in VIE.