Chronic ethanol retards kindling of hippocampal area CA3.
To investigate the effects of chronic alcohol which persist long after cessation of ethanol exposure, electrical kindling of the hippocampus was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats chronically exposed to ethanol. Kindling was initiated 14 days after either one continuous period of ethanol exposure, repeated periods of exposure and withdrawal, or control handling. Animals receiving ethanol exposure required significantly more stimulations to develop behavioral signs of kindling and to attain final kindling criterion than did ethanol-naive controls. Neither the blood ethanol level at the time of withdrawal nor the behavioral signs of acute withdrawal severity correlated with kindling measures. This study indicates that chronic ethanol exposure results in brain alterations which may be assessed long after the cessation of ethanol exposure.
Veatch
L M
LM
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73190-3000, USA.
Gonzalez
L P
LP
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000818:Animals; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D007696:Kindling, Neurologic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol