title: Effect of ethanol on cortical spreading depression.
abstract: The effects of intragastric ethanol (3 g kg-1 day-1 in a total volume of 3.8 ml/kg, for 7 days) on cortical spreading depression (SD) were studied in adult Wistar rats (N = 10). Control animals (N = 8) received an equivalent volume of distilled water for the same period of time. SD was elicited by stimulation of one point of the right frontal cortex with 2% KCl for 1 min at 20-min intervals and was recorded for 6 h at two points on the parietal surface of the same hemisphere. The ethanol group failed to gain weight during treatment, while the mean weight of the control group increased by 17 g. Rats treated with ethanol displayed higher mean SD velocities (range: 3.87 +/- 0.54 to 4.58 +/- 0.76 mm/min) than the control animals (range: 2.99 +/- 0.30 to 3.78 +/- 0.46 mm/min), the difference being significant until the fourth h of recording. The results indicate that ethanol intake for 7 days increases the susceptibility of the cerebral cortex to SD in adult rats.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brasil.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Frade
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects; D013181:Cortical Spreading Depression / Q000187:drug effects*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol