ACETALDEHYDE-INDUCED GROWTH-INHIBITION IN CULTURED RAT ASTROGLIAL CELLS

Due to the important role of glial cells in brain maturation and repor ts on delayed astroglial proliferation following ethanol exposition, i t was of great interest to examine the effects of the primary metaboli te of ethanol - acetaldehyde - on astroglial cell growth. This was car ried our by examining biochemical parameters of astroglial cells cocul tured with Chinese hamster ovary cell line (CHO) transfected with alco hol dehydrogenase (ADH), able to generate acetaldehyde from ethanol. A cetaldehyde generated from ethanol by ADH-transfected CHO cells had an inhibitory effect on the growth of astroglial cells as assessed by me asuring marker enzyme activities and culture protein levels. Moreover, both acetaldehyde and ethanol altered cell cycle and increased astrog lial superoxide dismutase activity. Additionally, acetaldehyde, but no t ethanol, increased malondialdehyde levels in cultured astroglia. The se results clearly show that acetaldehyde may participate in the devel opment of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.