title: The Effects of Alcohol on Visual Evoked Potential and Multifocal Electroretinography.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of ethanol administration on pattern-reversal visual evoked potential (VEP) and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG). Fifteen healthy subjects with no ocular or general disease were recruited. VEP (0.25° pattern sizes) and mfERG with 19 elements in two recording segments were performed before ethanol administration to obtain baseline for each participant. A few days later, the participants visited again for VEP and mfERG measurements after ethanol administration. Ethanol (0.75 g/kg) was administered orally over the course of 30 minutes. VEP and blood alcohol concentration were evaluated one hour after ethanol administration, and mfERG was conducted after pupil dilation. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare parameter changes after randomized eye selection. The mean blood alcohol concentration was 0.034% ± 0.05% by volume. VEP revealed a P100 latency delay (109.4 ± 5.3; 113.1 ± 8.2; P = 0.008) after alcohol administration. The P1 implicit time of ring 1 on mfERG showed a trend of shortening after alcohol administration (37.9 ± 1.0; 37.2 ± 1.5; P = 0.048). However, the changes did not show statistical significance after Bonferroni correction. In conclusion, orally administrated ethanol (0.75 g/kg) appears to suppress the central nervous system, but it is not clear whether alcohol intake affects the retina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Jee Taek
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0818-6159
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Cheol Min
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7438-3660
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Seong-Woo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0073-5800
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Jaeryung
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1036-6562
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Kuhl
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5792-4974
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D004596:Electroretinography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Alcohol; Electroretinography; Visual Evoked Potential