title: Non-invasive laser-Doppler assessment of cutaneous blood-flow in alcohol studies: effects of chronic ethanol consumption on peripheral blood-flow in unanaesthetised rats.
abstract: We investigated the use of a microprocessor-controlled laser-Doppler monitor to measure blood-flow in unanaesthetised animals. The apparatus permitted real-time assessment of cutaneous blood-flow, identified artifactual changes due to limb and body movements and was able to calculate rapidly the average value for blood-flux between two selected time points. The practical applicability of the apparatus was appraised by determining the effects of chronic ethanol toxicity. Male Wistar rats were fed nutritionally adequate liquid diets containing 35% of dietary calories as ethanol, or pair-fed identical amounts of the same diet in which ethanol was replaced isocalorically by glucose. After 2 weeks of treatment, peripheral cutaneous flux was reduced in all ethanol-fed rats by 25%, from a mean of 322 arbitrary units (control rats) to 243 arbitrary units (ethanol-fed rats; P less than 0.05); the laser-Doppler studies also indicated that there was no alteration in blood cellular contents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, King's College School of Medicine, London, U.K.
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Preedy
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Siddiq
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001775:Blood Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol