Ethanol potentiates lead-induced inhibition of rat brain antioxidant defense systems

We investigated the effect of alcohol (3 g/kg body weight intragastrically) on lead-induced (50 mg/kg body weight intragastrically) oxidative stress i n adult rat brain. Ethanol was found to potentiate the accumulation of lead in the rat brain by 100%. Lead and ethanol in combination also enhanced li pid peroxidation, a deteriorative process of biomembranes, and markedly dec reased the antioxidant capacity of neuronal cells in terms of reduced activ ities of antioxidant enzymes i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase and gluta thione peroxidase. Further, the activity of glutathione reductase was also significantly decreased in lead and ethanol co-exposed animals as compared to only lead-treated animals, which had altered glutathione status. The res ults of the present study show that ethanol makes the adult rat brain more susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of lead by accentuating the oxidative stress induced by lead.