[Concentrations of protein sulfhydryl and amino groups in the brain during acute and chronic alcoholic intoxication].

The content of sulphydryl and amine groups in water- and salt- soluble proteins of different areas of the rat brain was studied as affected by acute and chronic alcohol intoxication. With a relatively unchanged content of sulphydryl groups, noticeable variations are observed in the level of amine groups, most pronounced in proteins of the intermediate and middle areas of the brain. Under chronic intoxication the greatest changes in the content of the functional groups occur on the fourth day after cessation of the alcohol administration, when changes in the clinical state of the animals are most pronounced. It is supposed that the found shifts are caused by an acetaldehyde reversible blockade of amino groups and by the conformation rearrangement of protein molecules.