Differential effects of moderate chronic ethanol consumption on neurobehavior, white matter glial protein expression, and mTOR pathway signaling with adolescent brain maturation.

ABSTRACT: Background: Adolescent brains are highly vulnerable to heavy alcohol exposure. Increased understanding of how alcohol adversely impacts brain maturation may improve treatment outcomes.Objectives: This study characterizes short-term versus long-term effects of ethanol feeding on behavior, frontal lobe glial proteins, and mTOR signaling.Methods: Adolescent rats (8/group) were fed liquid diets containing 26% or 0% ethanol for 2 or 9 weeks, then subjected to novel object recognition (NOR) and open field (OF) tests. Frontal lobes were used for molecular assays.Results: Significant ethanol effects on OF performance occurred in the 2-week model (p < .0001). Further shifts in OF and NOR performance were unrelated to ethanol exposure in the 9-week models (p

SUBMITTER: Yalcin EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11824867 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature