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Monday, August 10, 2009

Effects of neonatal alcohol exposure on vasoactive intestinal polypeptide neurons in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus
Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 5, August 2009, Pages 387-396

Neonatal alcohol exposure produces long-term changes in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that are presumably responsible for disturbances in the light–dark regulation of circadian behavior in adult rats, including the pattern of photoentrainment, rate of re-entrainment to shifted light–dark cycles, and phase-shifting responses to light.

Because SCN neurons containing vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) receive direct photic input via the retinohypothalamic tract and thus play an important role in the circadian regulation of the SCN clock mechanism by light, the present study examined the long-term effects of neonatal alcohol exposure on VIP neuronal populations within the SCN of adult rats.

These results demonstrate that VIP neuronal populations in the SCN are vulnerable to EtOH-induced insult during brain development. The observed alterations in SCN neurons containing VIP may have an impact upon clock responses to light input and thus contribute to the long-term effects of neonatal alcohol exposure on the photic regulation of circadian behavior.


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