Cortical microvascular changes in chronological aging, cortical insults and chronic alcohol intoxication in rats. Effects of antihypoxic drug on these phenomena.
Chronic alcohol pulmonary exposure in rats produced a cortical hypervascularization from one to four weeks after the onset of the alcoholization procedure. This alcohol-induced cortical hypervascularization, resembling closely the enhanced cortical vascular network observed in chronologically aged rats as well as around a lesion-induced cavity performed on the cortex, was significantly reduced by a concomitant treatment with Sabeluzole, a chemically benzothiazol derivative with antihypoxic and antiischaemic properties. The blood alcohol level of rats treated with the antihypoxic agent remained stable and constant at a mean level of 1 g/l during a whole 2-week-alcoholization duration in contrast to that of untreated rats which was directly related to the increased alcohol concentration of the atmosphere insufflated in the alcoholization chamber. Finally, a free-choice paradigm achieved after the chronic intoxication also revealed that Sabeluzole-treated rats chose to drink less alcohol as compared to untreated rats suggesting Sabeluzole well modulated the alcohol-induced behavioral preference.
De Witte
P
P
Université de Louvain, Biologie du Comportement, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Gewiss
M
M
Heidbreder
C
C
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000187:drug effects; D010880:Piperidines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*
D010880:Piperidines; D013844:Thiazoles; D000431:Ethanol; C055163:sabeluzole