Lasting changes induced by mild alcohol exposure during embryonic development in BDNF, NCAM and synaptophysin-positive neurons quantified in adult zebrafish
Abstract
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is one of the leading causes of mental health issues worldwide. Analysis of zebrafish exposed to alcohol during embryonic development confirmed that even low concentrations of alcohol for a short period of time may have lasting behavioral consequences at the adult or old age. The mechanism of this alteration has not been studied. Here, we immersed zebrafish embryos into 1% alcohol solution (vol/vol%) at 24 hr post-fertilization (hpf) for 2 hr and analyzed potential changes using immunohistochemistry. We measured the number of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and NCAM (neuronal cell adhesion molecule)-positive neurons and the intensity of synaptophysin staining in eight brain regions: lateral zone of the dorsal telencephalic area, medial zone of the dorsal telencephalic area, dorsal nucleus of the ventral telencephalic area, ventral nucleus of the ventral telencephalic area, parvocellular preoptic nucleus, ventral habenular nucleus, corpus cerebella and inferior reticular formation. We found embryonic alcohol exposure to significantly reduce the number of BDNF- and NCAM-positive cells in all brain areas studied as compared to control. We also found alcohol to significantly reduce the inten...Continue Reading
References
Polysialic acid in the vertebrate nervous system: a promoter of plasticity in cell-cell interactions
Differential loss of synaptic proteins in Alzheimer's disease: implications for synaptic dysfunction
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