Alcohol binge drinking during adolescence or dependence during adulthood reduces prefrontal myelin in male rats. 2014

Wanette M Vargas, and Lynn Bengston, and Nicholas W Gilpin, and Brian W Whitcomb, and Heather N Richardson
Neuroscience and Behavior Program and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003.

Teen binge drinking is associated with low frontal white matter integrity and increased risk of alcoholism in adulthood. This neuropathology may result from alcohol exposure or reflect a pre-existing condition in people prone to addiction. Here we used rodent models with documented clinical relevance to adolescent binge drinking and alcoholism in humans to test whether alcohol damages myelinated axons of the prefrontal cortex. In Experiment 1, outbred male Wistar rats self-administered sweetened alcohol or sweetened water intermittently for 2 weeks during early adolescence. In adulthood, drinking behavior was tested under nondependent conditions or after dependence induced by 1 month of alcohol vapor intoxication/withdrawal cycles, and prefrontal myelin was examined 1 month into abstinence. Adolescent binge drinking or adult dependence induction reduced the size of the anterior branches of the corpus callosum, i.e., forceps minor (CCFM), and this neuropathology correlated with higher relapse-like drinking in adulthood. Degraded myelin basic protein in the gray matter medial to the CCFM of binge rats indicated myelin was damaged on axons in the mPFC. In follow-up studies we found that binge drinking reduced myelin density in the mPFC in adolescent rats (Experiment 2) and heavier drinking predicted worse performance on the T-maze working memory task in adulthood (Experiment 3). These findings establish a causal role of voluntary alcohol on myelin and give insight into specific prefrontal axons that are both sensitive to alcohol and could contribute to the behavioral and cognitive impairments associated with early onset drinking and alcoholism.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009186 Myelin Sheath The lipid-rich sheath surrounding AXONS in both the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS and PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. The myelin sheath is an electrical insulator and allows faster and more energetically efficient conduction of impulses. The sheath is formed by the cell membranes of glial cells (SCHWANN CELLS in the peripheral and OLIGODENDROGLIA in the central nervous system). Deterioration of the sheath in DEMYELINATING DISEASES is a serious clinical problem. Myelin,Myelin Sheaths,Sheath, Myelin,Sheaths, Myelin
D000367 Age Factors Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time. Age Reporting,Age Factor,Factor, Age,Factors, Age
D000431 Ethanol A clear, colorless liquid rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body. It has bactericidal activity and is used often as a topical disinfectant. It is widely used as a solvent and preservative in pharmaceutical preparations as well as serving as the primary ingredient in ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. Alcohol, Ethyl,Absolute Alcohol,Grain Alcohol,Alcohol, Absolute,Alcohol, Grain,Ethyl Alcohol
D000437 Alcoholism A primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (Morse & Flavin for the Joint Commission of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism: in JAMA 1992;268:1012-4) Alcohol Abuse,Alcoholic Intoxication, Chronic,Ethanol Abuse,Alcohol Addiction,Alcohol Dependence,Alcohol Use Disorder,Abuse, Alcohol,Abuse, Ethanol,Addiction, Alcohol,Alcohol Use Disorders,Chronic Alcoholic Intoxication,Dependence, Alcohol,Intoxication, Chronic Alcoholic,Use Disorders, Alcohol
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D017208 Rats, Wistar A strain of albino rat developed at the Wistar Institute that has spread widely at other institutions. This has markedly diluted the original strain. Wistar Rat,Rat, Wistar,Wistar Rats
D017397 Prefrontal Cortex The rostral part of the frontal lobe, bounded by the inferior precentral fissure in humans, which receives projection fibers from the MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS OF THE THALAMUS. The prefrontal cortex receives afferent fibers from numerous structures of the DIENCEPHALON; MESENCEPHALON; and LIMBIC SYSTEM as well as cortical afferents of visual, auditory, and somatic origin. Anterior Prefrontal Cortex,Brodmann Area 10,Brodmann Area 11,Brodmann Area 12,Brodmann Area 47,Brodmann's Area 10,Brodmann's Area 11,Brodmann's Area 12,Brodmann's Area 47,Pars Orbitalis,Frontal Sulcus,Gyrus Frontalis Inferior,Gyrus Frontalis Superior,Gyrus Orbitalis,Gyrus Rectus,Inferior Frontal Gyrus,Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex,Marginal Gyrus,Medial Frontal Gyrus,Olfactory Sulci,Orbital Area,Orbital Cortex,Orbital Gyri,Orbitofrontal Cortex,Orbitofrontal Gyri,Orbitofrontal Gyrus,Orbitofrontal Region,Rectal Gyrus,Rectus Gyrus,Straight Gyrus,Subcallosal Area,Superior Frontal Convolution,Superior Frontal Gyrus,Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex,Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex,Anterior Prefrontal Cortices,Area 10, Brodmann,Area 10, Brodmann's,Area 11, Brodmann,Area 11, Brodmann's,Area 12, Brodmann,Area 12, Brodmann's,Area 47, Brodmann,Area 47, Brodmann's,Area, Orbital,Area, Subcallosal,Brodmanns Area 10,Brodmanns Area 11,Brodmanns Area 12,Brodmanns Area 47,Convolution, Superior Frontal,Convolutions, Superior Frontal,Cortex, Anterior Prefrontal,Cortex, Lateral Orbitofrontal,Cortex, Orbital,Cortex, Orbitofrontal,Cortex, Prefrontal,Cortex, Ventromedial Prefrontal,Cortices, Ventromedial Prefrontal,Frontal Convolution, Superior,Frontal Gyrus, Inferior,Frontal Gyrus, Medial,Frontal Gyrus, Superior,Frontalis Superior, Gyrus,Gyrus, Inferior Frontal,Gyrus, Marginal,Gyrus, Medial Frontal,Gyrus, Orbital,Gyrus, Orbitofrontal,Gyrus, Rectal,Gyrus, Rectus,Gyrus, Straight,Gyrus, Superior Frontal,Inferior, Gyrus Frontalis,Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortices,Olfactory Sulcus,Orbital Areas,Orbital Cortices,Orbital Gyrus,Orbitalis, Pars,Orbitofrontal Cortex, Lateral,Orbitofrontal Cortices,Orbitofrontal Cortices, Lateral,Orbitofrontal Regions,Prefrontal Cortex, Anterior,Prefrontal Cortex, Ventromedial,Prefrontal Cortices, Anterior,Region, Orbitofrontal,Subcallosal Areas,Sulcus, Frontal,Superior Frontal Convolutions,Superior, Gyrus Frontalis,Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortices
D051381 Rats The common name for the genus Rattus. Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus
D063425 Binge Drinking Drinking an excessive amount of ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES in a short period of time. Binge Alcohol Consumption,Alcohol Consumption, Binge,Drinking, Binge

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