Effects of postnatal ethanol exposure on glial cell development in rat optic nerve

This study morphologically evaluated the effects of limited postnatal alcohol exposure on the development of glial cells in the rat optic nerve. Rat pups were artificially reared on Days 5-18 with a supplemented milk diet fed via a chronic gastrostomy tube. Experimental animals received 4% ethanol in their diet on Days 5-9, otherwise the experimental and control animals received identical diets. Optic nerve tissues were prepared for electron microscopy on Days 10, 16, 22, 29, and 90. There were fewer glial cells per cross section and the cross-sectional areas of optic nerves were smaller on Days 10 and 16 in the ethanol-exposed animals. The alcohol caused a delay in the maturation of oligodendroglial cells at 10 days as evidenced by decreases in the total number of oligodendroglia present and by a delay in the appearance of immature cells within the oligodendroglial lineage. All of these effects were compensated for at later ages. There was no evidence of alcohol-induced degeneration of glial cells or their organelles. Thus, postnatal alcohol exposure causes a delay in oligodendrocyte maturation but appears to have no long-term effects on the glial cell population of rat optic nerve.