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Published on: June 23, 2023
Alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated protection against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity
NancyEllen C de Fiebre1, Christopher M de Fiebre
1Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107-2699, USA. cdefiebr@hsc.unt.edu
Abstract:
The alpha(7)-selective nicotinic partial agonist 3-[2,4-dimethoxybenzylidene]anabaseine (DMXB) was examined for its ability to modulate ethanol-induced neurotoxicity in primary cultures of rat neurons. Primary cultures of hippocampal neurons were established from Long-Evans, embryonic day (E)-18 rat fetuses and maintained for 7 days. Ethanol (0-150 mM), DMXB (0-56 microM), or both were subsequently co-applied to cultures. Ethanol was added two additional times to the cultures to compensate for evaporation. After 5 days, neuronal viability was assessed with the MTT cell proliferation assay. Results demonstrated that ethanol reduces neuronal viability in a concentration-dependent fashion and that DMXB protects against this ethanol-induced neurotoxicity, also in a concentration-dependent fashion. These results support the suggestion that nicotinic partial agonists may be useful in treating binge drinking-induced neurotoxicity and may provide clues as to why heavy drinkers are usually smokers.
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