Analysis of the distribution of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets associated with chronic ethanol treatment in rats with a disturbed circadian cycle

Differential Influence of Pueraria lobata Root Extract and Its Main Isoflavones on Ghrelin Levels in Alcohol-Treated Rats

The study was carried out on alcohol-preferring male Wistar rats. The following drugs were repeatedly (28×) administered: acamprosate (500 mg/kg, p.o.), naltrexone (0.1 mg/kg, i.p), and Pueraria lobata (kudzu) root extract (KU) (500 mg/kg, p.o.) and its isoflavones: daidzin (40 mg/kg, p.o.) and puerarin (150 mg/kg, p.o.). Their effects on a voluntary alcohol intake were assessed. KU and alcohol were also given for 9 days in an experiment on alcohol tolerance development. Finally, total and active ghrelin levels in peripheral blood serum were measured by ELISA method. Acamprosate, naltrexone, daidzin, and puerarin, reducing the alcohol intake, caused an increase in both forms of ghrelin levels. On the contrary, though KU inhibited the alcohol intake and alcohol tolerance development, it reduced ghrelin levels in alcohol-preferring rats. The changes of ghrelin concentration could play a role as an indicator of the currently used drugs. The other effect on the KU-induced shift in ghrelin levels in the presence of alcohol requires further detailed study.

Ethanol affects acylated and total ghrelin levels in peripheral blood of alcohol-dependent rats

There is a hypothesis that ghrelin could take part in the central effects of alcohol as well as function as a peripheral indicator of the changes which occur during long-term alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to determine a correlation between alcohol concentration and acylated and total form of ghrelin after a single administration of alcohol (intraperitoneal, i.p.) (experiment 1) and prolonged ethanol consumption (experiment 2). The study was performed using Wistar alcohol preferring (PR) and non-preferring (NP) rats and rats from inbred line (Warsaw High Preferring, WHP; Warsaw Low Preferring, WLP). It was found that ghrelin in ethanol-naive WHP animals showed a significantly lower level when compared with the ethanol-naive WLP or Wistar rats. After acute ethanol administration in doses of 1.0; 2.0 and 4.0 g/kg, i.p., the simple (WHP) or inverse (WLP and Wistar) relationship between alcohol concentration and both form of ghrelin levels in plasma were found. Chronic alcohol intake in all groups of rats led to decrease of acylated ghrelin concentration. PR and WHP rats, after chronic alcohol drinking, had lower levels of both form of ghrelin in comparison with NP and WLP rats, respectively, and the observed differences in ghrelin levels were in inverse relationship with their alcohol intake. In conclusion, it is suggested that there is a strong relationship between alcohol administration or intake, ethanol concentration in blood and both active and total ghrelin level in the experimental animals, and that ghrelin plasma concentration can be a marker of alcohol drinking predisposition.

Effects of moderate consumption of distilled and fermented alcohol on some aspects of neuroimmunomodulation

Alcoholic beverages are characterized by their fermented versus distilled origin and also by their degree of alcohol. The toxic effects of chronic alcohol consumption have been widely studied. However, there is less evidence about possible beneficial effects of moderate alcohol intake. This work was aimed at evaluating the effects of moderate alcohol consumption (beer or ethanol) on plasma hormone concentrations, blood and thymus lymphocyte phenotypes and brain neurotransmitter levels. For this purpose, 40 adult Wistar male rats were administered ethanol or beer for 4 weeks (experimental groups). Age-matched rats were administered beer without alcohol or water to be used as controls. Rats were killed by decapitation and plasma from the trunk blood was collected to measure plasma prolactin, growth hormone and ACTH concentrations by homologous specific double antibody radioimmunoassays. Thymus and blood lymphocyte subsets were measured by flow cytometry. Neurotransmitter concentrations [dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and taurine] were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography in the median eminence and the pituitary. Blood and thymus lymphocyte subsets were not significantly changed by either ethanol or beer consumption, compared to controls. Plasma prolactin levels significantly decreased in ethanol-administered groups (p < 0.05) compared to control animals drinking water, although plasma levels of growth hormone and ACTH were not modified by either alcohol used. Dopamine and GABA concentrations in the median eminence or in the adenohypophysis remained unmodified by moderate beer or ethanol consumption. However, taurine concentration was significantly increased in the pituitary (p < 0.05) in the group drinking ethanol compared to those groups drinking beer with or without alcohol. These data suggest that moderate alcohol consumption may change the regulatory mechanism of prolactin secretion. Whether these modifications have a physiological significance deserves further research.

Effect of chronic ethanol feeding on 24-hour rhythms of mitogenic responses and lymphocyte subset populations in thymus and spleen of peripubertal male rats

This work analyzes the effect of chronic ethanol feeding on the 24-hour variation of mitogenic responses and lymphocyte subset populations in thymus and spleen. Animals were maintained under a 12:12-hour light/dark photoperiod and they received a liquid diet for 4 weeks, starting on day 35 of life. The ethanol-fed group received a similar diet to controls except that maltose was isocalorically replaced by ethanol. Ethanol replacement provided 36% of the total caloric content of the diet. Rats were killed at 6 time intervals around the clock, beginning at Zeitgeber time (ZT) 1 (ZT 0 = lights on). Under ethanol intake the splenic and thymic weight decreased. In addition, mean values of the thymic, but not of the splenic T cell number decreased, and mean values of the thymic and splenic CD8+ and CD4+CD8+ number increased. Consequently, the thymic T/B ratio and the thymic and splenic CD4+/CD8+ ratio decreased in ethanol-fed rats. At the same time there was a significant increase in the response of the thymic cells to LPS. The ethanol diet modified the 24-hour rhythmicity of thymic and splenic T, B and CD4+CD8+ cells, thymic CD4+ and splenic CD8+ cells, thymic and splenic T/B and CD4+/CD8+ ratios, as well as of mitogenic responses in both tissues. Chronic ethanol administration presumably affects the endogenous clock that modulates the circadian variation of immune responsiveness in growing rats.

Acamprosate involvement in triacylglycerol hydrolysis and transacylation with cholesterol in chronically ethanol-drinking rats

Acamprosate (AC) is used as a drug for treating alcoholism. We evaluated the effect of AC on serum triacylglycerol hydrolysis (GEH, glycerol ester hydrolysis), triacylglycerol transacylation with cholesterol (GECAT, glycerol ester:cholesterol acyltransferase), and acylcholesterol hydrolysis (Cease, cholesterol ester hydrolysis) in an experimental model of alcoholism. Ethanol-preferring (PRF), non-preferring (NPF), and control (CR) male Wistar rats were treated with AC (500 mg/kg, p.o.) for 21 consecutive days. The beneficial effect of AC on lipid parameters of PRF rats included decreased triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol, and increased HDL-cholesterol levels. Acamprosate-compensated changes associated with ethanol consumption were observed. Acamprosate treatment decreased GECAT and increased Cease control rats, but increased GECAT and decreased CEase in PRF animals. In all groups of rats, AC treatment did not influence GEH. In conclusion, our results suggest that AC can influence triacylglycerol metabolism by its action on the balance between hydrolysis and transacylation in rats.