ACUTE ETHANOL EFFECTS ON FOCAL CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA IN NONFASTED RATS

Focal cerebral ischemia was induced in a rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion. Three groups of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, give n food and water ad libitum, were subjected to 4 hr of middle cerebral artery occlusion. All were given vehicle control and ethanol pretreat ments intraperitoneally 1 hr before. Mean ipsilateral brain water cont ent in the control, 2 g/kg ethanol, and 2 g/kg ethanol + insulin-treat ed groups showed: ischemia core: 81.1%, 82.5%, and 80.9%; intermediate zone: 81.0%, 81.9%, and 80.3%; and outer zone: 80.3%, 81.3%, and 80.1 %, respectively. Brain Na+ and K+ content in these groups paralleled t he water content. In addition to significantly (p < 0.05) more brain e dema, the 2 g/kg ethanol-treated animal group also had significant hyp erglycemia. In contrast, the 2 g/kg ethanol + insulin-treated animals were normoglycemic and had ischemic, intermediate, and outer zone Na+, K+, and Cl- levels comparable with the control group (p > 0.05). Thes e results stress the importance of measuring and controlling plasma gl ucose levels in the in vivo studies of the neurotoxic effects of acute ethanol.