Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on brain damage following transient focal ischemia

Abstract

Chronic alcohol consumption impairs cerebral vasoreactivity, and thus, may result in an increase in ischemic brain damage. The goal of this study is to examine the influence of chronic alcohol consumption on transient focal ischemia-induced brain damage. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups, a control group and an alcohol group. Eight weeks after being fed a liquid diet with or without alcohol, responses of parietal pial arterioles to systemic hypoxia and hypercapnia were measured using a cranial window technique. In separate experiments, rats were subjected to right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 2 h under ketamine/xylazine or isoflurane anesthesia. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was monitored through a Laser-Doppler flow probe attached to the lateral aspect of the skull. Neurological evaluation and ischemic lesion were assessed 24 h after reperfusion. Dilation of pial arterioles in response to hypoxia and hypercapnia was significantly reduced in alcohol-fed rats. Alcohol-fed rats had significantly larger infarct volumes and worse neurological outcomes than non-alcohol-fed rats under ketamine/xylazine or isoflurane anesthesia. In addition, rCBF measurement indicated that alcohol-fed rats had less regulatory rebound increase in rCBF after the initial drop in rCBF at the onset of MCAO. Our findings suggest that chronic alcohol consumption exacerbates transient focal ischemia-induced brain damage. Increased ischemic brain damage during alcohol consumption may be related to an impaired cerebral vasoreactivity.

Recombinant Human Angiopoietin-1 Ameliorates the Expressions of ZO-1, Occludin, VE-cadherin, and PKCα Signaling after Focal Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion in Rats

“…The rat was mounted in the prone position on a dual small animal stereotaxic instrument (Reworld Instruments, Shanghai, China). After cranial midline incision, a 1-mm burr hole was made with microdrill on the right side, 1-mm-posterior and 5-mm-lateral to bregma (Sun et al 2008), and the rat was placed in the supine position. A laser Doppler probe was placed on the burr hole under the rat skull, nearly contacting the dura mater and avoiding large vessels, and measured the parietal cortical perfusion in the middle cerebral artery territory.…”

Changes in Gene Expression in the Rat Hippocampus after Focal Cerebral Ischemia

“…After a cranial midline incision, a 1-mm burr hole was made with a microdrill at both sides, 2-mm-posterior and 5-mm-lateral to the bregma 24) . The rat was then placed in the supine position.…”

Alcohol‐Induced Exacerbation of Ischemic Brain Injury: Role of NAD(P)H Oxidase

“…Scoring for rats was performed blindly with a 24-point scale modified from Garcia's neurological scoring system (Sun et al, 2008). Sensorimotor testing was graded on a scale of 0 to 3 each on spontaneous activity, symmetry of movement, response to vibrissae touch, floor walking, beam walking, symmetry of forelimbs, climbing wall of wire cage, reaction to touch on either side of trunk.…”

“…Recently, we found that chronic alcohol consumption exacerbates transient focal ischemia-induced brain injury (Sun et al, 2008).…”