Oligodendrocyte myelin glycoprotein (OMgp) in rat hippocampus is depleted by chronic ethanol consumption

The hippocampal formation has been shown to be particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of chronic ethanol consumption. It was hypothesized that this damage was due to the disruption of the expression of neurotrophic factors and certain other proteins within the hippocampus. By using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques, this study aimed to determine whether chronic ethanol consumption could alter the mRNA expression level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and oligodendrocyte myelin glycoprotein (OMgp) in the hippocampus. Wistar male rats received an unrestricted access to a liquid diet containing 5% (v/v) ethanol as the sole source of fluid from 10 to 29 weeks of age. Control rats had unlimited access to a liquid diet containing an isocaloric amount of sucrose. We found that chronic ethanol consumption did not cause significant changes in the levels of mRNA for BDNF and GDNF. However, OMgp mRNA showed a significant deficit in ethanol-treated animals. It is suggested that this deficit may be related to the demyelination that is commonly observed in human alcoholics and that this may contribute to the functional and cognitive deficits.