[Histochemical study of the cholinergic structures of the frog tongue after chronic administration of ethanol]

The chronic ethanol effect on the cholinergic structures of frog's tongue epithelium was studied by means of histochemical method. It was found that the administration of ethanol daily for 14 days resulted in a decrease of reactive reorganization processes of the nerve fibers and nervous band perineurium, arising under stimulation of the tongue by taste solutions. This process was partly restored in a month, in spite of the continuing ethanol administration. The decrease of acetylcholinesterase activity and the appearance of dystrophic and destructive changes both in the nerve fibers and in neurons was observed in the animals subjected to lasting ethanol effect for 60-90 days. Revealed in the course of alcoholization morpho-functional changes of cholinergic tongue structures can be in the basis of the disturbance of the taste.