Alcohol withdrawal does not impede hippocampal granule cell progressive loss in chronic alcohol-fed rats.
Using the unbiased disector method we have shown that chronic alcohol consumption induces a significant decrease of dentate gyrus granule cell density in alcohol-fed rats for 18 months. A still more dramatic reduction was observed in a group of age-matched rats alcohol-fed for 12 months and switched to water for 6 months (recovery group). These results indicate that a progressive neuronal loss of the hippocampal granule cells in not impeded after cessation of alcohol intake. It is thus suggested that once the mechanisms underlying the alcohol-induced neuronal degeneration are triggered, they continue to act even after withdrawal.
Cadete-Leite
A
A
Department of Anatomy, Porto School of Medicine, Portugal.
Tavares
M A
MA
Paula-Barbosa
M M
MM
D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy; D002452:Cell Count; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome
D000431:Ethanol