Weekly ethanol exposure alters dopaminergic parameters in zebrafish brain

Publication date: Available online 14 August 2019Source: Neurotoxicology and TeratologyAuthor(s): Maria Cecilia Manenti Alexandre, Niuany Viel Mendes, Carolina Antunes Torres, Samira Leila Baldin, Henrique Teza Bernardo, Rahisa Scussel, Suelen Baggio, Ben Hur Marins Mussulini, Kamila Cagliari Zenki, Maria Inês da Rosa, Eduardo Pacheco RicoAbstractBinge drinking is defined as the infrequent consumption of excessive doses of alcohol in a short period of time. Zebrafish is a reliable model to investigate ethanol consumption impact on the CNS, including reward signaling like dopaminergic neurotransmission system. The aim of this study was to evaluate zebrafish brain dopaminergic parameters after intermittent weekly ethanol exposure (WEE), which mimics binge drinking. Thus, adult zebrafish were exposed to ethanol (1.4% v/v) for 30 min, once a week for three consecutive weeks. The groups were divided according to different time points after the third exposure and name as follow: immediately (WEEI), two days (WEE-2), and nine days (WEE-9) after last exposure to ethanol. Brain dopaminergic function was assessed by the activity of the dopamine transporters (DAT); monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity; dopamine and noradrenaline levels by chromatography. The WEE-I and WEE-2 groups presented a significant increase in DAT activity. The MAO activity was decreased for WEE-2 and WEE-9 groups. The WEE-2 and WEE-9 groups presented an increase in brain dopamine levels, while noradrenaline levels...
Source: Neurotoxicology and Teratology - Category: Toxicology Source Type: research