Stereo logical study of rat spleen following acute ethanol treatment

462-466To investigate the acute effect of ethanol (4 g/kg, ip) on spleen adult female Wistar rats were treated intraperitoneally with: a) ethanol (4 g/kg body wt), b) naltrexone (5 mg/kg body wt) followed 45 minutes later by ethanol (4 g/kg body wt) and c) naltrexone (5 mg/kg body wt) alone. Untreated and saline-treated rats were used as controls. Twenty hours after the ethanol treatment the animals were sacrificed and the spleens were removed. A piece of tissue from the central part of each organ was fixed in Bouin's solution. Paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and analysed using stereological measurements. The volume densities of the following tissue compartments: red pulp, white pulp (divided in follicles, periarterioral lymphatic sheath and marginal zone) and the connective tissue were determined. Stereological analysis also included parameters of follicles: the areal numerical density (the number of follicles per 1 mm2 of tissue section), the numerical density (the number of follicles per mm3 of tissue) and the mean follicle diameter. The immunoarchitecture of the spleen was preserved following acute ethanol treatment. Unlike other parameters that were unaffected , ethanol evoked a decrease in both volume density of follicle and the mean follicle diameter. Naltrexone pretreatment had no influence on ethanol-induced changes. The data obtained indicate that a single dose of ethanol has a profound effect on rat spleen affecting the follicles, but the mechanism of its action remains to be elucidated

Increased levels of progesterone in rats following acute ethanol treatment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a single dose of ethanol on reproductive hormone production in female rats. Adult female Wistar rats were injected with alcohol (4g/kg) or equal volume of saline i. p. on diestrus day 1. The animals were sacrificed 1/2 h and 3 h after treatment. Our results showed that acute ethanol treatment had no significant influence on LH and oestradiol levels, but significantly increased progesterone concentration. Since ethanol induced elevated levels of progesterone in male rats as well and caused a significant increase in the level of ACTH, the data obtained indicated that the increased progesterone concentration in female rats might be the result of activation of the adrenal glands

Increased levels of progesterone in rats following acute ethanol treatment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a single dose of ethanol on reproductive hormone production in female rats. Adult female Wistar rats were injected with alcohol (4g/kg) or equal volume of saline i. p. on diestrus day 1. The animals were sacrificed 1/2 h and 3 h after treatment. Our results showed that acute ethanol treatment had no significant influence on LH and oestradiol levels, but significantly increased progesterone concentration. Since ethanol induced elevated levels of progesterone in male rats as well and caused a significant increase in the level of ACTH, the data obtained indicated that the increased progesterone concentration in female rats might be the result of activation of the adrenal glands

Increased levels of progesterone in rats following acute ethanol treatment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a single dose of ethanol on reproductive hormone production in female rats. Adult female Wistar rats were injected with alcohol (4g/kg) or equal volume of saline i. p. on diestrus day 1. The animals were sacrificed 1/2 h and 3 h after treatment. Our results showed that acute ethanol treatment had no significant influence on LH and oestradiol levels, but significantly increased progesterone concentration. Since ethanol induced elevated levels of progesterone in male rats as well and caused a significant increase in the level of ACTH, the data obtained indicated that the increased progesterone concentration in female rats might be the result of activation of the adrenal glands

Gender-specific vascular effects elicited by chronic ethanol consumption in rats: a role for inducible nitric oxide synthase

Background and purpose: Epidemiological data suggest that the risk of ethanol-associated cardiovascular disease is greater in men than in women. This study investigates the mechanisms underlying gender-specific vascular effects elicited by chronic ethanol consumption in rats. Experimental approach: Vascular reactivity experiments using standard muscle bath procedures were performed on isolated thoracic aortae from rats. mRNA and protein for inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and for endothelial NOS (eNOS) was assessed by RT-PCR or western blotting, respectively. Key results: In male rats, chronic ethanol consumption enhanced phenylephrine-induced contraction in both endothelium-intact and denuded aortic rings. However, in female rats, chronic ethanol consumption enhanced phenylephrine-induced contraction only in endothelium denuded aortic rings. After pre-incubation of endothelium-intact rings with L-NAME, both male and female ethanol-treated rats showed larger phenylephrine-induced contractions in aortic rings, compared to the control group. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation was not affected by ethanol consumption. The effects of ethanol on responses to phenylephrine were similar in ovariectomized (OVX) and intact (non-OVX) female rats. In the presence of aminoguanidine, but not 7-nitroindazole, the contractions to phenylephrine in rings from ethanol-treated female rats were greater than that found in control tissues in the presence of the inhibitors. mRNA levels for eNOS and iNOS were not altered by ethanol consumption. Ethanol intake reduced eNOS protein levels and increased iNOS protein levels in aorta from female rats. Conclusions and implications: Gender differences in the vascular effects elicited by chronic ethanol consumption were not related to ovarian hormones but seemed to involve the upregulation of iNOS