Increased tunel positive cells in CA1, CA2, and CA3 subfields of rat hippocampus due to copper and ethanol co-exposure

Abstract

Copper (Cu) is an essential element for life. However, it is toxic at excessive doses, whereas exposure to ethanol (EtOH) has known to cause morphological changes, degeneration, and neuronal loss in central nervous system. A previous investigation by the authors' group showed that Cu and EtOH co-treatment cause severe hippocampal neuronal loss in CA1, CA2, and CA3 subfields of rat hippocampus. This study was designed to analyze the possible mechanism(s) of action of this effect. In addition, the possible neurogenesis in response to a potent neurodegenerative treatment in rat hippocampus was analyzed. Results demonstrated that Cu and EtOH induced neuronal loss in rat hippocampus was in correlation with the increased cell death analyzed on the basis of TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. On the other hand, neuronal regenerative activity was detectable in analyzed CA1, CA2, and CA3 subfields of the rat hippocampus analyzed on the basis of 5-bromo-2'-deoxy- uridine (BrdU) labeling assay; however, this activity in treated group was not significantly different from that of control group. Copyright © 2008 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.