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Nicotinamide Inhibits Ethanol-Induced Caspase-3 and PARP-1 Over-activation and Subsequent Neurodegeneration in the Developing Mouse Cerebellum

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Abstract

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is the principal preventable cause of mental retardation in the western countries resulting from alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Ethanol-induced massive neuronal cell death occurs mainly in immature neurons during the brain growth spurt period. The cerebellum is one of the brain areas that are most sensitive to ethanol neurotoxicity. Currently, there is no effective treatment that targets the causes of these disorders and efficient treatments to counteract or reverse FASD are desirable. In this study, we investigated the effects of nicotinamide on ethanol-induced neuronal cell death in the developing cerebellum. Subcutaneous administration of ethanol in postnatal 4-day-old mice induced an over-activation of caspase-3 and PARP-1 followed by a massive neurodegeneration in the developing cerebellum. Interestingly, treatment with nicotinamide, immediately or 2 h after ethanol exposure, diminished caspase-3 and PARP-1 over-activation and reduced ethanol-induced neurodegeneration. Conversely, treatment with 3-aminobenzadine, a specific PARP-1 inhibitor, was able to completely block PARP-1 activation, but not caspase-3 activation or ethanol-induced neurodegeneration in the developing cerebellum. Our results showed that nicotinamide reduces ethanol-induced neuronal cell death and inhibits both caspase-3 and PARP-1 alcohol-induced activation in the developing cerebellum, suggesting that nicotinamide might be a promising and safe neuroprotective agent for treating FASD and other neurodegenerative disorders in the developing brain that shares similar cell death pathways.

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Abbreviations

FASD:

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

FAS:

Fetal alcohol syndrome

EtOH:

Ethanol

PARP-1:

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase

FJB:

Fluoro-Jade-B

PAR:

Polymers of ADP-ribose

NAD+:

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

NADP+:

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

PD:

Postnatal days

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Funding

A.I. was supported by the De Witt-Reader’s Digest Fellowship, and D.G.H. was supported by grants from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and the Reader’s Digest Foundation.

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  1. Alessandro Ieraci

    Present address: Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology and Functional Neurogenomics - Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari and Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, Università di Milano, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133, Milan, Italy

  2. Daniel G. Herrera

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School Cambridge, Cambridge, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Alessandro Ieraci & Daniel G. Herrera

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Correspondence to Alessandro Ieraci.

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All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees of Weill Cornell Medical College and were conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

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Ieraci, A., Herrera, D.G. Nicotinamide Inhibits Ethanol-Induced Caspase-3 and PARP-1 Over-activation and Subsequent Neurodegeneration in the Developing Mouse Cerebellum. Cerebellum 17, 326–335 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-017-0916-z

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