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Metabolic Changes in Rat Brain After Prolonged Ethanol Consumption Measured by 1H and 31P MRS Experiments

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Abstract

SUMMARY

1. In vivo 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques were applied to reveal biochemical changes in the rat brain caused by prolonged ethanol consumption.

2. Three models of ethanol intoxication were used.

3. 1H MRS showed a significant decrease in the concentration of myo-inositol in the brain of rats fed with 20% ethanol for 8 weeks. This change is consistent with perturbances in astrocytes. On the other hand, N-acetyl aspartate and choline content did not differ from controls.

4. 31P MRS did not reveal any significant changes in the high-energy phosphates or intracellular free Mg2+ content in the brain of rats after 14 weeks of 20% ethanol drinking. The intracellular pH was diminished.

5. By means of a 31P saturation transfer technique, a significant decrease was observed for the pseudo first-order rate constant k for of the creatine kinase reaction in the brain of rats administered 30% ethanol for 3 weeks using a gastric tube.

6. The 1H MRS results may indicate that myo-inositol loss, reflecting a disorder in astrocytes, might be one of the first changes associated with alcoholism, which could be detected in the brain by means of in vivo 1H MRS.

7. The results from 31P MRS experiments suggest that alcoholism is associated with decreased brain energy metabolism.

8. 31P saturation transfer, which provides insight into the turnover of high-energy phosphates, could be a more suitable technique for studying the brain energetics in chronic pathological states than conventional 31P MRS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Faculty, Pharmacobiochemical Laboratory, Comenius University, Hlboká 7, 811 05, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Zuzana Braunová

  2. Central Laboratory of NMR, Slovak Technical University, Radlinského 9, 812 37, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Svatava Kašparová, Šárka Mierisová & Tibor Liptaj

  3. Radiodiagnostic Clinic, MR Unit, Dérer Faculty Hospital, Limbová 5, 833 05, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Vladimír Mlynárik & Ivan Tkáč

  4. Medical Faculty, Pharmacobiochemical Laboratory, Comenius University, Hlboká 7, 811 05, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Anna Gvozdjáková

Authors
  1. Zuzana Braunová
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  2. Svatava Kašparová
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  3. Vladimír Mlynárik
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  4. Šárka Mierisová
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  5. Tibor Liptaj
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  6. Ivan Tkáč
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  7. Anna Gvozdjáková
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Braunová, Z., Kašparová, S., Mlynárik, V. et al. Metabolic Changes in Rat Brain After Prolonged Ethanol Consumption Measured by 1H and 31P MRS Experiments. Cell Mol Neurobiol 20, 703–715 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007002925592

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