Selective depletion of norepinephrine in brain by N-2-chloroethyl-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine fails to alter the voluntary consumption of ethanol in rats.

The effects of the selective norepinephrine neurotoxin, DSP-4, on the maintenance of voluntary consumption of ethanol was tested in male Long-Evans rats. The drug, DSP-4, produced a 51% reduction in whole brain levels of NE without affecting the consumption of ethanol. These results, however, do not rule out a role for NE in mediating this behavior.