Ethanol attenuates lactate production in hypoxic postnatal day 4 rat cerebella.
Ethanol consumption during pregnancy may lead to a low oxygen supply to the brain of the developing fetus. Such a reduction in the oxygen supply will result in changes in intra- and extracellular lactate production, which subsequently may lead to cytoplasmic acidosis, changes in cerebral metabolism, and eventually, cell death. We used a novel application of gas chromatography to measure lactate changes, on a global level, in the cerebellar tissue of postnatal day (PD) 4 and PD 10 rat pups following in vitro exposure of either hypoxia or hypoxia plus ethanol (hypoxia/ethanol). The results showed hypoxia-induced increases in lactate concentrations as a function of treatment time in both PD 4 and PD 10 cerebellar tissue. However, there was a differential response to the additional ethanol treatment between the two age groups assessed, with an attenuation of the time-dependent increase of lactate production following hypoxia treatment in PD 4 cerebellar tissue. The results also indicated that PD 4 cerebellar tissue had increased oxygen utilization when compared with PD 10 tissue exposed to the same conditions. The ethanol-induced reduction in lactate is hypothesized as being due to limitations in glucose transport and utilization under ethanol/hypoxia exposure. It is believed that such limitations in cellular function may initiate a sequence of events that produce at least some of the cerebellar neuronal loss reported in the fetal alcohol literature.
Andrews
D L
DL
Department of Human Anatomy and Medical Neurobiology, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, College Station 77843-1114, USA.
Chen
W J
WJ
Kelly
C
C
Cobb
B G
BG
West
J R
JR
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D019344:Lactic Acid; D000431:Ethanol