Science, Vol 218, Issue 4574, 809-810
Copyright © 1982 by American Association for the Advancement of Science
Lesion-induced sprouting in the rat dentate gyrus is inhibited by repeated ethanol administration
West JR,
MD Lind,
RM Demuth,
ES Parker,
RL Alkana,
M Cassell,
and
AC Black Jr
The effect of ethanol on hippocampal axonal sprouting was studied with a histochemical technique for identifying acetylcholinesterase. Unilateral lesion of the entorhinal cortex in adult rats produced an increase in the density of acetylcholinesterase staining in the outer molecular layer and a concomitant increase in the width of the pale-staining commissural-associational zone of the dentate gyrus. Other rats were given ethanol (11.3 +/- 0.45 grams per kilogram) for 2 weeks before and 9 days after receiving the lesion. Ethanol abolished the expansion of the commissural-associated zone. The effect of ethanol on sprouting axons suggests that it may inhibit recovery of function after brain injury.
