INVESTIGADORES
DUHALDE VEGA Maite
artículos
Título:
A LOW CHRONIC ETHANOL EXPOSURE INDUCES MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE ADOLESCENT RAT BRAIN THAT ARE NOT FULLY RECOVERED EVEN AFTER A LONG ABSTINENCE. AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY
Autor/es:
EVRARD, S.G; DUHALDE VEGA, M; TAGLIAFERRO, P; MIROCHNIC, S.; CALTANA, L,; BRUSCO, A
Revista:
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
Referencias:
Año: 2006 vol. 200 p. 438 - 459
ISSN:
0014-4886
Resumen:
Little is known about the morphological effects of alcoholism on the developing adolescent brain and its consequences into adulthood. We
studied here the relationship between two neurotransmitter systems (the serotoninergic and nitrergic) and the astrocytic and neuronal cytoskeleton
immediately and long after drinking cessation of a chronic, but low, ethanol administration. Adolescent male Wistar rats were exposed to ethanol
6.6% (v/v) in drinking water for 6 weeks and studied after ending exposure or after a 10-week recovery period drinking water. Control animals
received water. Brain sections were processed by immunohistochemistry using antibodies to serotonin (5-HT); glial fibrillary acidic protein
(GFAP); astroglial S-100b protein; microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP-2); 200 kDa neurofilaments (Nf-200); and neuronal nitric oxide
synthase (nNOS). The mesencephalic dorsal and median raphe nucleus (DRN; MRN) and three prosencephalic areas closely related to cognitive
abilities (CA1 hippocampal area, striatum and frontal cortex) were studied by digital image analysis. 5-HT immunoreactivity (-ir) decreased in the
DRN and recovered after abstinence and was not changed in the MRN. In the three prosencephalic areas, astrocytes´ cell area (GFAP-ir cells)
increased after EtOH exposure and tended to return to normality after abstinence, while cytoplasmic astroglial S100b protein-ir, relative area of
MAP-2-ir and Nf-200-ir fibers decreased, and later partially recovered. In the striatum and frontal cortex, nNOS-ir decreased only after abstinence.
In conclusion, in the adolescent brain, drinking cessation can partially ameliorate the ethanol-induced morphological changes on neurons and
astrocytes but cannot fully return it to the basal state.