Background. The problem of the development of alcohol dependence is relevant due to insufficient research of the processes occurring in the brain during prolonged exposure to ethanol. The aim of the research. To estimate the rate of oxygen consumption by homogenates of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of rats under conditions of chronic alcohol intoxication, ethanol withdrawal, as well as the effect of ethanol and succinate on it in vitro. Material and methods. The rate of oxygen consumption by homogenates of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of rats alcoholized for 8 months, as well as during the period of ethanol withdrawal on endogenous substrates, during incubation with ethanol solution and succinate was studied. Results. An increase in the rate of oxygen consumption of brain homogenates on endogenous substrates in chronic alcohol intoxication of rats, a decrease in the period of ethanol withdrawal on days 1 and 3, a stimulating effect of ethanol in the cerebral cortex on day 3 of abstinence, as well as a stimulating effect succinate in groups of control animals and with chronic alcohol intoxication were observed. Conclusions. Chronic alcoholization of rats leads to the development of the dependence of tissue respiration on the presence of ethanol in the cage. The absence of the stimulating effect of succinate in the ethanol withdrawal groups indicates the significant activation of the succinate dehydrogenase pathway in these animals.

Objective. To estimate the in vitro effect of ethanol on the function of oxygen transport in the blood of patients in a state of alcohol deprivation and in healthy donors.Materials and methods. We analyzed blood samples from 13 male patients aged 22–56 in a state of alcohol deprivation and 11 males aged 20-45 in whom this diagnosis was excluded. The blood was incubated with ethanol solution at a final concentration of 50 μmol/L. The parameters of the function of oxygen transport (р50, рО2, рСО2, рН, АВЕ, НСО3-, ТСО2,SВЕ, SBC) of the blood taken from the cubital vein using an ABL-330 “Radiometr” microgas analyzer were determined.Results. The patients in a state of alcohol deprivation reveal increased affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen, and their acid-base status of the blood becomes alkaline. When ethanol is added in vitro to the blood of patients, the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen decreases.Conclusion. Decreased affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen upon the in vitro addition of ethanol in the examined patients indicates compensatory and adaptive changes in the oxygen transport of the blood in response to chronic ethanol consumption.