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Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, Vol. 29 (3) (2001) pp. 105-109
© 2001 IUBMB. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S1470-8175(01)00035-2

Laboratory excercises

Bringing the brain into the test tube: an experiment illustrating the effect of ethanol on nerve terminal viability

Rodrigo A. Cunha * racunha@clix.pt

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal

Abstract

Ethanol is primarily responsible for the behavioural effects of acute alcoholic beverage consumption, which involves central nervous system dysfunction. The mechanisms of ethanol action in the nervous system are poorly understood, particularly those related to the neurotoxicity of high acute ethanol consumption. We now describe a simple experiment showing that a concentration of ethanol, which is reached in the plasma after high acute ethanol intake, disrupts rat brain nerve terminals, as measured by the release of lactate dehydrogenase. This cytolytic action of ethanol was further enhanced upon depolarisation of the nerve terminals suggesting that the mechanism of action of ethanol might not be related to modification of lipid bilayer properties.

Keywords: Nerve terminals; Neurotoxicity; Ethanol; Neurochemistry; Synaptosomes

*Corresponding author. Tel./fax: 351-21 7936787

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