Alcoholism and Cellular Vulnerability in Different Brain Regions

Abstract

Alcohol-induced damage causes dysfunction of selected brain regions. Multidisciplinary studies have provided an extensive description of changes observed in neurons and glia following alcohol consumption. In this study the authors have elucidated preferential cellular vulnerability in three different brain regions. Autopsy material of the prefrontal cortex, striatum, and substantia nigra obtained from the brain tissue of alcoholic subjects was used in this study. We found that dendritic tree and astroglial damage is irreversible, while neuronal somata and most axons do not display irreversible changes.

Keywords::

• Alcohol
• electron microscopy
• myelin sheath
• prefrontal cortex
• striatum
• substantia nigra
• synapses

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express thanks to Virginia Pickel for advice on carrying out the electron micrograph analysis.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.