EFFECTS OF ETHANOL ON GLUCOSE-TRANSPORTER EXPRESSION IN CULTURED HIPPOCAMPAL-NEURONS

Glucose transport was studied in primary hippocampal neuron cultures e xposed to ethanol, Immunofluorescent staining with antibodies against neuron-specific enolase and glial fibrillary acidic protein identified similar to 95% of the cultured cells as neurons. Western blot analysi s was conducted with polyclonal antisera to glucose transporter isofor ms GLUT1 and GLUT3. As previously seen in astrocytes, GLUT1 protein wa s regulated by the culture medium glucose content. Exposure to 50 and 100 mW1 of ethanol for 5 hr induced dose-dependent reductions in GLUT1 and GLUT3 protein. In contrast, GLUT1 mRNA abundance was increased re lative to controls under the same conditions. Glucose uptake, measured with the nonmetabolized analog, 2-deoxy-D-glucose, was reduced by 50 and 100 mM of ethanol in four experiments. These results indicate a di rect effect of ethanol on neuronal glucose transporter expression, whi ch may play a role in the neurotoxic effects of alcohol.