Ethanol consumption affecting some brain proteins and cortical plasticity might disturb the neural networks of long-term memory

The objective of this study is to investigate whether chronic ethanol consumption (EC) include brain damage expressed as an increase of antibody titer to S-100 and synaptic membrane proteins, addition of lateral ventricle volume and increase within the brain cortex in rats. After six months of EC, rats were tested for antibody titer to S-100, neuron specific enolase (NSE), 14-3-2 and synaptic membrane proteins. In these rats, the diameter of anterior, medial and posterior cortical areas and diameter of lateral ventricles were measured. EC significantly increases antibody titer to S-100 and synaptic membranes, decrease antibody titer to 14-3-2 protein and does not affect antibody to NSE in the peripheral blood of these animals. Additional volume of lateral right and left ventricles indicates that brain atrophy appears after six months of EC. Increased diameter of anterior cortical area but not medial and posterior cortical area indicate morphological changes in the brain cortical tissue in prefrontal, and frontal cortical areas that are responsible for attention memory and associative long-term memory. Of course, all of these morpho-functional changes in the cortex and some depth structures of the brain might disturb the function of neural networks for the above mentioned types of memory.