Abstract: Abstract:Objective To investigate the regulation of puerarin on the expression levels of endorphin and dopamine(DA) of   cortex,cerebellum,hippocampus,and striatum of the rats with  acute alcoholism and to provide  basis for clinical treatment of alcoholism and the exploitation of traditional Chinese herb pueraria . Methods 24 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group,alcoholism group and puerarin group,and there were 8 rats in each group. The expression levels of β-endorphin(β-EP),dynorphin（DnyA） and Leu-enkephalin（L-EK） in cortex,cerebellum,hippocampus and striatum were detected by radioimmunoassay,and the expression levels of DA,dihydroxy-phenyl acetic acid（DOPAC） and homovanillic acid(HVA) of the rats in various groups were detected by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) method. The ratio of (DOPAC+HVA)/DA was calculated.Results Compared with control group,the exrpession levels  of β-EP,DnyA and L-EK in  cortex of the rats in alcoholism group and puerarin group were decreased (P<0.01). The expression levels  of DA,DOPAC and HVA in various  brain regions were increased (P<0.01).Compared with alcoholism group,and the expression levels of β-EP,DnyA and L-EK in rat cortex in puerarin group were increased (P<0.05,P<0.01),and the expression levels of DA(P<0.01),DOPAC(P<0.01) and HVA in cortex and all the indexes mentioned above in the cerebellum,hippocampus and striatum were decreased(P<0.05,P<0.01),and the ratios of（DOPAC+HVA）/DA in cortex,cerebellum and hippocampus were increased,but it was decreased in striatum(P>0.05).Conclusion Puerarin has protective effect on rat brain damage induced by acute alcoholism and the mechanism may be related to the regulation  of puerarin on endorphin and DA on the rat brain.

Key words: puerarin, acute alcoholism, endorphin, dopamine