Effect of chronic ethanol treatment and withdrawal on mitochondrial redox activity in brain cortical slices

The effect of chronic ethanol treatment on cytochrome a-a3 redox activity was studied in rat brain cortical slices. The slices were depolarized by electrical pulses and the level of reduced cytochrome a-a3 was directly measured within the slice by dual wavelength spectrometry. Cortical slices cut from the brains of rats withdrawn from ethanol demonstrated less reduction of cytochrome a-a3 following electrical depolarization compared both to controls and ethanol addicted rats. It is suggested that this effect of ethanol withdrawal on cytochrome a-a3 redox activity is due to a change in the regulation of mitochondrial activity.