The effect of the timing of ethanol exposure during early postnatal life on total number of Purkinje cells in rat cerebellum.
We have previously shown that exposing rats to a high dose of ethanol on postnatal d 5 can affect Purkinje cell numbers in the cerebellum whilst similar exposure on d 10 had no such effect. The question arose whether a longer period of ethanol exposure after d 10 could produce loss of Purkinje cells. We have examined this question by exposing young rats to a relatively high dose (approximately 420-430 mg/dl) of ethanol for 6 d periods between the ages of either 4 and 9 d or 10 and 15 d of age. Exposure was carried out by placing the rats in an ethanol vapour chamber for 3 h per day during the exposure period. Groups of ethanol-treated (ET), separation controls (SC) and mother-reared controls (MRC) were anaesthetised and killed when aged 30 d by perfusion with buffered 2.5% glutaraldehyde. Stereological methods were used to determine the numbers of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of each rat. MRC, SC and rats treated with ethanol between 10-15 d of age each had, on average, about 254-258 thousand cerebellar Purkinje cells; the differences between these various groups were not statistically significant. However, the rats treated with ethanol vapour between 4-9 d of age had an average of only about 128000+/-20000 Purkinje cells per cerebellum. This value was significantly different from both the MRC and group-matched SC animals. It is concluded that the period between 4 and 9 d of age is an extremely vulnerable period during which the rat cerebellar Purkinje cells are particularly susceptible to the effects of a high dose of ethanol. However, a similar level and duration of ethanol exposure commencing after 10 d of age has no significant effect on Purkinje cell numbers.
Miki
T
T
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa Medical University, Japan.
Harris
S
S
Wilce
P
P
Takeuchi
Y
Y
Bedi
K S
KS
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002452:Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol