Brain ALDH expression is reduced indevelopmentally-lead-exposed animals after voluntary ethanol intake

Romina Deza-Ponzio, Paula A. Albrecht, Mara S.Mattalloni, Liliana M. Cancela y Miriam B. Virgolini.

IFEC CONICET ? Dpto. de Farmacología , Facultad deCiencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. E-mail: rdezaponzio@fcq.unc.edu.ar

Perinatal lead (Pb)-exposure induces higher ethanolintake in adolescent animals compared to non-exposed controls, likely due to brainACD accumulation which is considered reinforcing.  We here sought to determine whether ALDHexpression in limbic regions (prefrontal cortex -PfC, caudate-putamen ?CP, andnucleus accumbens -NAc) is modified by developmental Pb exposure. Thirtyfive-day old male Wistar rats were offered with ethanol (2-10% v/v) or waterduring 28 days. Two additional groups wereincluded as controls: 35 and 63 day-old animals that have not consumed ethanol(non-ethanol groups). At the end ofthe study all the animals were perfused, the brain fixed, andimmunohistochemistry performed for ALDH abundance. The resultsevidence that ALDH expression was not affected by perinatal Pb exposure, giventhat both control and Pb-exposed adolescent animals showed comparable cellcounts in the three regions analyzed. However, ethanol intake induced adramatic reduction in the Pb-exposed group?s ALDH positive cells in all threeregions when they were assessed at the end of the ethanol intake test. Thiseffect was blunted in the NAc and CP from animals not submitted to the ethanolconsumption protocol, while the PfC data showed a raise in cell count number inthe Pb-exposed rats that deserves further consideration. The results indicatelower ALDH expression in key brain regions that could led to brain ACDaccumulation and consequent higher ethanol intake in Pb-exposed animals.