This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
Abstract
The product of the permeability × vascular surface area (PA) of the blood-brain barrier
to [14C]sucrose has been measured in rats maintained for 3 weeks in a chamber, the air supply
to which carried a controlled concentration of ethanol vapour.
No statistically significant difference was found between the permeability measurements
in rats inhaling ethanol vapour for 3 weeks and non-alcohol exposed rats. The PA value
was found to be significantly increased (115%) in rats given the same ethanol exposure
when additionally subject to starvation during the last 3 days of this treatment.
If the ethanol supply was also withdrawn at the same time as the food, a similar significant
increase (116%) in PA value was found. In the absence of any ethanol exposure, 3 days'
starvation did not significantly alter the measured PA value. Finally, when rats are
given 200 mg/kg disulfiram every second day during a 2-week period of ethanol inhalation,
the PA value was not significantly altered, although the concentration of acetaldehyde
in the blood was up to 129 μM.
The results indicate that while ethanol or acetaldehyde alone do not cause a weakening
in the blood-brain barrier, the additional stress of food withdrawal after alcohol
exposure does reduce barrier function, and this could be significant in human binge
drinking.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of the Neurological SciencesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Immunologische Blut-Liquor-Schrankendiagnostik im Verlauf des Delirium tremens.Arch. psychiat. neurol. Sci. 1979; 227: 319-328
- Natural variation in the blood-brain barrier.Neurosci. Letters. 1981; 27: 309-312
- The blood-brain barrier.J. Physiol. (Lond.). 1976; 225: 1-28
- Ethanol induced increase in the penetration of exogenously administered l-dopa through the blood-brain barrier.J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 1979; 31: 636-637
- Decrease in plasma amino acids in rat after acute administration of ethanol.J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 1980; 32: 512-513
- Cerebral ventricular enlargement - Chronic alcoholics examined by computerized tomography.J. Amer. med. Ass. 1976; 236: 365-368
- Induction processes in blood-brain transfer of ketone bodies during starvation.Amer. J. Physiol. 1975; 229: 1165-1170
- Intestinal disaccharidase deficiencies and glucose-galactose malabsorption.in: Stanbury J.B. Wyngaarden J.B. Fredrickson D.S. The Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease. 4th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York1978: 1526-1536
- Alcoholic rhabdomyolysis - An experimental model in the rat.Science. 1980; 208: 412-415
- Integrity of blood-brain barrier during ethanol intoxication and withdrawal in the rat - Normal glucose transfer and permeability to Na+ and Cl−.Stroke. 1980; 11: 141-144
- Protein movement across the blood-brain barrier in hypervolemia.Brain Res. 1979; 169: 610-614
- Blood-brain barrier - Regulation of cerebral function and metabolism.in: Seventh Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Brain Information Service, BRI Publications, California1978
- High blood acetaldehyde levels after ethanol administration - Difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic subjects.N. Engl. J. Med. 1975; 292: 386-389
- Lower limits of cerebrovascular permeability in nonelectrolytes in the conscious rat.Amer. J. Physiol. 1978; 235: 299-307
- Does ethanol damage the blood-brain barrier?.J. neurol. Sci. 1981; 50: 81-87
- The toxicity to rat cerebral cortex of topical applications of acetaldehyde, ammonia or bilirubin.Neuropath. applied Neurobiol. 1981; 7: 81-87
- Starvation-induced changes in transport of ketone bodies across the blood-brain barrier.J. Neurosci. Res. 1980; 5: 163-172
- In vivo acetaldehyde in the brain of the rat treated with ethanol.Biochem. Pharm. 1980; 29: 411-417
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 11,
1981
Received in revised form:
November 2,
1981
Received:
September 2,
1981
Footnotes
☆This study was supported financially by the Australian Associated Brewers.
Identification
Copyright
© 1982 Published by Elsevier Inc.
