Effect of Low-Dose Alcohol Consumption on Inflammation Following Transient Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggest that low-dose alcohol consumption (LAC) reduces the incidence and improves the functional outcome of ischemic stroke. We determined the influence of LAC on post-ischemic inflammation. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups, an ethanol (13.5% alcohol) group, a red wine (Castle Rock Pinot Noir, 13.5% alcohol) group, and a control group. The amount of alcohol given to red wine and ethanol groups was 1.4 g/kg/day. After 8 weeks, the animals were subjected to a 2-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and sacrificed at 24 hours of reperfusion. Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, expression of adhesion molecules and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, microglial activation and neutrophil infiltration were evaluated. The total infarct volume and neurological deficits were significantly reduced in red wine- and ethanol-fed rats compared to control rats. Both red wine and ethanol suppressed post-ischemic expression of adhesion molecules and microglial activation. In addition, both red wine and ethanol upregulated expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1), downregulated expression of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines, and significantly alleviated post-ischemic expression of inflammatory mediators. Furthermore, red wine significantly reduced post-ischemic neutrophil infiltration. Our findings suggest that LAC may protect the brain against its I/R injury by suppressing post-ischemic inflammation.

Alcohol exposure–induced neurovascular inflammatory priming impacts ischemic stroke and is linked with brain perivascular macrophages

“…Interestingly, our data and the recently published data on the beneficial effect of low-dose alcohol consumption on inflammation following transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats (7) suggest that, similarly to the biphasic effects of alcohol on the risk of ischemic stroke (2), alcohol consumption also could have a biphasic effect on the consequences of ischemic stroke. These data, thus, help to clarify the apparently controversial clinical results found on the impact of alcohol consumption on stroke (4,5).…”

“…Current clinical studies are controversial and have described either an aggravating effect (4) or no effect of HD (5) on stroke severity. Preclinical reports have also described either a protective effect of low alcohol consumption on ischemic stroke (6,7) or larger infarcts in rodents exposed to higher alcohol dose (6,8). However, the mechanisms mediating this aggravation are not well understood.…”

miR-145-5p/Nurr1/TNF-α Signaling-Induced Microglia Activation Regulates Neuron Injury of Acute Cerebral Ischemic/Reperfusion in Rats

“…The real infarct volume (cortex, striatum and hemisphere), after excluding edema, was calculated by subtraction of the ipsilateral non-infarcted regional volume from the contralateral regional volume. The real infarct volume was then divided by the contralateral regional volume as a percent of the contralateral region (McCarter et al, 2017 ).…”

Alcohol Use Disorder, Neurodegeneration, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease: Interplay Between Oxidative Stress, Neuroimmune Response and Excitotoxicity

“…A plethora of studies have reported that alcohol consumption is detrimental to health and contributes to cognitive deficits and neurodegeneration (Crews and Nixon, 2009) and increases the risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders such as AD (Harwood et al, 2010) and PD (Liu et al, 2013). On the contrary, a growing number of contemporary findings have addressed low to moderate consumption of alcohol to have neuroprotective effects (McCarter et al, 2017) and reduces the risk associated with neurodegenerative disorders (Liu et al, 2013;Zhang D. et al, 2014). Various factors were reported to determine the neuroprotective and neurodegenerative properties of alcohol, including the types of beverage consumed (beer vs wine vs liquor), amount of alcohol intake, blood alcohol level (low vs moderate vs high), nutrient deficiency and genetic components.…”