CpG DNA ͉ cytokines ͉ immune stimulation ͉ innate immunity ͉ immunotherapy

Background Ethanol is metabolized by a two-step process in which alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) oxidizes ethanol to acetaldehyde, which is further oxidized to acetate by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Although variation in ethanol metabolism in humans strongly influences the propensity to chronically abuse alcohol, few data exist on the behavioral effects of altered ethanol metabolism. Here, we used the nematode C. elegans to directly examine how changes in ethanol metabolism alter behavioral responses to alcohol during an acute exposure. Additionally, we investigated ethanol solution osmolarity as a potential explanation for contrasting published data on C. elegans ethanol sensitivity. Methods We developed a gas chromatography assay and validated a spectrophotometric method to measure internal ethanol in ethanol-exposed worms. Further, we tested the effects of mutations in ADH and ALDH genes on ethanol tissue accumulation and behavioral sensitivity to the drug. Finally, we tested the effects of ethanol solution osmolarity on behavioral responses and tissue ethanol accumulation. Results Only a small amount of exogenously applied ethanol accumulated in the tissues of C. elegans and consequently their tissue concentrations were similar to those that intoxicate humans. Independent inactivation of an ADH-encoding gene (sodh-1) or an ALDH-encoding gene (alh-6 or alh-13) increased the ethanol concentration in worms and caused hypersensitivity to the acute sedative effects of ethanol on locomotion. We also found that the sensitivity to the depressive effects of ethanol on locomotion is strongly influenced by the osmolarity of the exogenous ethanol solution. Conclusions Our results indicate that ethanol metabolism via ADH and ALDH has a statistically discernable but surprisingly minor influence on ethanol sedation and internal ethanol accumulation in worms. In contrast, the osmolarity of the medium in which ethanol is delivered to the animals has a more substantial effect on the observed sensitivity to ethanol.

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