British journal of anaesthesia
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Little is known about the targets in the CNS that mediate ethanol analgesia. This study explores the role of spinal astrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2), a key ethanol-metabolising enzyme, in the analgesic effects of ethanol in mice. ⋯ These findings provide evidence that ALDH2 in spinal astrocytes mediates spinal ethanol metabolism and ethanol-induced analgesic effects by promoting GABA synthesis and GABAergic transmission in spinal cord.