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Monday, October 26, 2009

Short-term exposure to ethanol causes a differential response between NGF and BDNF ligand/receptor systems in the mouse cerebellum
Neuroscience Article in Press 25 October 2009

Alcohol ingestion affects both neuropsycological and motor functions. We hypothesized that one of the key factors involved in such functions are neurotrophins and their receptors.

We have therefore examined the effects of short-term ethanol exposure on the mRNA expression and protein levels of neurotrophin ligands and receptors in the cerebellum using real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting techniques.

We found that exposure to ethanol resulted in elevated levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) and TrkA mRNA expression but a decreased level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression. The expression of TrkB and p73 mRNA was unchanged. Changes in the level of these proteins were found to mirror these mRNA expression levels.

We conclude that exposure to ethanol for a short period can cause a differential responsive in the various neurotrophin ligand/receptor systems. The functional consequences of these changes are unknown at present.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: mikit@med.kagawa-u.ac.jp

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