ALCOHOL EFFECTS ON PARAVENTRICULAR HYPOTHALAMIC NUCLEUS MORPHOMETRY

The morphometric effects of postnatal exposure to alcohol on the neuro ns of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) have been studied in four different topographic subdivisions of the nucleus: rostral, i ntermediate medial, intermediate lateral and caudal. Male mice were ex posed to alcohol during lactation and after weaning by addition of 20% of ethanol to the drinking water that was first ingested by the mothe r and thereafter by the experimental animals themselves. Animals were sacrificed at the 25th, 35th, 45th, 55th and 100th postnatal day. Nucl ear sizes of the PVN neurons (perimeter, area and maximum diameter) we re determined in both control and experimental alcohol-treated groups. The shape of these neuronal nuclei was also determined and compared. PVN responds globally to alcohol exposure, showing a decrease in the n euronal nuclear sizes in the four studied PVN subdivisions of the alco hol-treated mice at the 35th to 45th and 100th day. We suggest that th ese decreases could be related to changes in gonadal hormone levels in duced by alcohol exposure and/or disturbances of brain neurotransmitte r and neuropeptide metabolism caused by ethanol.