title: Chronic Voluntary Ethanol Consumption Induces Favorable Ceramide Profiles in Selectively Bred Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats.
abstract: Heavy alcohol consumption has detrimental neurologic effects, inducing widespread neuronal loss in both fetuses and adults. One proposed mechanism of ethanol-induced cell loss with sufficient exposure is an elevation in concentrations of bioactive lipids that mediate apoptosis, including the membrane sphingolipid metabolites ceramide and sphingosine. While these naturally-occurring lipids serve as important modulators of normal neuronal development, elevated levels resulting from various extracellular insults have been implicated in pathological apoptosis of neurons and oligodendrocytes in several neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders. Prior work has shown that acute administration of ethanol to developing mice increases levels of ceramide in multiple brain regions, hypothesized to be a mediator of fetal alcohol-induced neuronal loss. Elevated ceramide levels have also been implicated in ethanol-mediated neurodegeneration in adult animals and humans. Here, we determined the effect of chronic voluntary ethanol consumption on lipid profiles in brain and peripheral tissues from adult alcohol-preferring (P) rats to further examine alterations in lipid composition as a potential contributor to ethanol-induced cellular damage. P rats were exposed for 13 weeks to a 20% ethanol intermittent-access drinking paradigm (45 ethanol sessions total) or were given access only to water (control). Following the final session, tissues were collected for subsequent chromatographic analysis of lipid content and enzymatic gene expression. Contrary to expectations, ethanol-exposed rats displayed substantial reductions in concentrations of ceramides in forebrain and heart relative to non-exposed controls, and modest but significant decreases in liver cholesterol. qRT-PCR analysis showed a reduction in the expression of sphingolipid delta(4)-desaturase (Degs2), an enzyme involved in de novo ceramide synthesis. These findings indicate that ethanol intake levels achieved by alcohol-preferring P rats as a result of chronic voluntary exposure may have favorable vs. detrimental effects on lipid profiles in this genetic line, consistent with data supporting beneficial cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects of moderate ethanol consumption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Godfrey
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jeanguenin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Olney
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pipkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stanley M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Walls
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America; Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Deron R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Herr
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Greg L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Brasser
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002518:Ceramides / Q000378:metabolism*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007178:Inbreeding; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D002518:Ceramides; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases