Interaction of ethanol with opiate receptors

The authors study the action of ethanol on membrane-bound opiate receptors. Ethanol at 37/sup 0/C was shown to produce dose-dependent inhibition of binding of /sup 3/H-naloxone with opiate receptors. ID/sub 50/ under these conditions was 462 mM. Temperature-dependent inhibition of ligand-receptor binding suggests that ethanol does not compete for the stereospecific binding site of /sup 3/H-naloxone. Analysis of the inhibitory action of ethanol on /sup 3/H-naloxone binding in animals at different stages of experimental alcoholism revealed no differences between the control and experimental animals after 3.5 and 10 months of voluntary alcoholization.