Oxidative stress and inflammation are often linked to the prognosis of diseases caused by chronic alcohol consumption. Chronic alcohol consumption plays a key role in brain tissue damage, often leading to the development of cognitive disorders and loss of brain function. In addition to the direct effects of alcohol on brain function, consumption of alcohol can lead to psychosocial stressors such as legal, financial, and interpersonal problems. It has been found that mice that overexpress C1q/Tumor Necrosis Factor-related protein-3 (CTRP3) and exposed to ethanol daily do not die like the mice who did not overexpress CTRP3 and fed the same diet. Although the specific physiological functions regulated by the CTRP family are largely unknown, there is evidence showing that they have diverse biological effects on inflammation, metabolism, and survival signaling in several different types of tissue. Postmortem brain tissue samples were collected from mice that were exposed to ethanol with transgenic overexpression of CTRP3 and from wild type mice that were only exposed to ethanol. Interestingly, previous immunoblotting of the cerebellum and the hippocampus using collected tissue demonstrated that glia activation was present in the CTRP3 overexpressing mice but not in the wild-type ethanol fed mice. This finding suggests that glia cells are either dying in the ethanol fed wild type mice or that CTRP3 protects and prolongs activated glia cells. The current study will determine if markers of oxidative stress and cell viability are altered in the CTRP3 overexpressing mice when compared to wild-type mice at the molecular level. RNA isolation using the Directzol system and cDNA synthesis using punch dissected homogenate tissue collected from the hippocampus was used for this investigation. Gene expression of BDNF, SOD1 and PARP1 in mouse tissue was determined using quantitative PCR. Immunoblotting of a small number of hippocampal tissue using PARP1 was performed. The mice that were CTRP3 overexpressed and fed ethanol will likely exhibit altered gene expression of cytokines and increased oxidative stress gene expression in postmortem hippocampal brain tissue when compared to wild-type ethanol fed mice. The current studies could contribute to the body of knowledge for the development of novel therapies that may alleviate the neuro-inflammatory effects of alcohol use.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-1460 |
| Date | 12 April 2019 |
| Creators | Abens, Ryan |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum |
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