Brain ALDH expression is reduced in developmentally-lead-exposed animals after voluntary ethanol intake

DEZA PONZIO, ROMINA; ; ALBRECHT, PA; MATTALLONI, MS; CANCELA, LM; VIRGOLINI MB

Mar del Plata

Congreso; 30° Congreso Anual SAN: Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias

Perinatal lead (Pb)-exposure induces higher ethanol intake in adolescent animals compared to non-exposed controls, likely due to brain ACD accumulation which is considered reinforcing. We here sought to determine whether ALDH expression in limbic regions (prefrontal cortex -PfC, caudate-putamen ?CP, and nucleus accumbens -NAc) is modified by developmental Pb exposure. Thirty five-day old male Wistar rats were offered with ethanol (2-10% v/v) or water during 28 days. Two additional groups were included as controls: 35 and 63 day-old animals that have not consumed ethanol (non-ethanol groups). At the end of the study all the animals were perfused, the brain fixed, and immunohistochemistry performed for ALDH abundance. The results evidence that ALDH expression was not affected by perinatal Pb exposure, given that both control and Pb-exposed adolescent animals showed comparable cell counts in the three regions analyzed. However, ethanol intake induced a dramatic reduction in the Pb-exposed group?s ALDH positive cells in all three regions when they were assessed at the end of the ethanol intake test. This effect was blunted in the NAc and CP from animals not submitted to the ethanol consumption protocol, while the PfC data showed a raise in cell count number in the Pb-exposed rats that deserves further consideration. The results indicate lower ALDH expression in key brain regions that could led to brain ACD accumulation and consequent higher ethanol intake in Pb-exposed animals.