Binge-pattern alcohol exposure during puberty induces sexually dimorphic changes in genes regulating the HPA axis.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab
; 298(2): E320-8, 2010 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19952347
ABSTRACT
Maternal alcohol consumption during critical periods of fetal brain development leads to devastating long-term consequences on adult reproductive physiology, cognitive function, and social behaviors. However, very little is known about the long-term consequences of alcohol consumption during puberty, which is perhaps an equally dynamic and critical period of brain development. Alcohol abuse during adulthood has been linked with an increase in clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders, yet the etiology and neurochemical mechanisms of alcohol-induced anxiety behavior is unknown. In this study, we determined the effects of binge ethanol exposure during puberty on two critical central regulators of stress and anxiety behavior corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP). Our results showed that ethanol increased plasma corticosterone (CORT) levels in both sexes, yet binge-treated animals had significantly lower CORT levels than animals exposed to a single dose, suggesting that the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis habituated to the repeated stressful stimuli of ethanol. Binge ethanol exposure also significantly increased CRH and AVP gene expression in the paraventricular nucleus of males, but not females. Overall, our results demonstrate that binge ethanol exposure during puberty changes the central expression of stress-related genes in a sex-specific manner, potentially leading to permanent dysregulation of the HPA axis and long-term behavioral consequences.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Maturidade Sexual
/
Encéfalo
/
Arginina Vasopressina
/
Hormônio Liberador da Corticotropina
/
Depressores do Sistema Nervoso Central
/
Etanol
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab
Assunto da revista:
ENDOCRINOLOGIA
/
FISIOLOGIA
/
METABOLISMO
Ano de publicação:
2010
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos