Ethanol effects on 2-deoxyglucose uptake into tissues obtained from LS and SS mice

The uptake of 2-deoxy-D-[14C]glucose (2-DG) has been used with some success to identify neuronal sites of drug action, and has also been useful in identifying brain regions that are differentially sensitive to ethanol in selectively bred rat lines, the alcohol tolerant (AT) and alcohol nontolerant (ANT) lines. The studies reported here utilized the 2-DG method in an attempt to ascertain whether the LS and SS mouse lines, which were selectively bred for differences in sensitivity to high dose, anesthetic effects of ethanol, do so because of disruption of specific neuronal sites. LS and SS mice were injected with saline or a 4.0-g/kg dose of ethanol 15 min before injection with 2-deoxy-D-[14C]glucose, and uptakes into blood, eight brain regions, the liver, and adrenal tissues were measured 2-60 min afterwards. Ethanol produced statistically significant decreases in 2-DG uptake into every region of the LS mouse brain, but only three brain regions showed significant decreases in uptake in the SS brain. Other SS brain regions showed a trend towards decreased uptake, but these trends were not significant. A comparison of percent decrease in 2-DG uptake across all brain regions showed that ethanol decreased 2-DG uptake approximately twice as much in LS brain regions as in SS brain regions. Since 2-DG uptake into adrenal and hepatic tissue was not affected by ethanol injection in either mouse line, it seems likely that the decreased 2-DG uptake, seen more readily in the LS brain, is due to ethanol-induced central nervous system (CNS) depression.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)