Melatonin (an antioxidant) does not ameliorate alcohol-induced Purkinje cell loss in the developing cerebellum.

BACKGROUND

One popular mechanism proposed to account for alcohol-induced brain damage is the generation of free radicals after alcohol exposure. Therefore, it is reasonable to hypothesize that administration of an antioxidant should reduce the severity of alcohol-induced brain damage. Recently, melatonin has been shown to be an effective free-radical scavenger. In this study, the ability of melatonin to attenuate alcohol-induced cerebellar Purkinje cell loss in the cerebellar vermis and lobule I was assessed.

METHODS

Sprague-Dawley rat pups were used in this study. These neonatal pups were exposed to alcohol (4.5 g/kg), melatonin (10 mg/kg), both alcohol and melatonin, or control vehicle via artificial-rearing methods from postnatal day (PD) 4 to PD 9. Alcohol, melatonin, or control vehicle was mixed with milk formula in 2 of the daily 12 feedings. Pups were killed 90 min after the beginning of the second alcohol feeding on PD 9.

RESULTS

Alcohol significantly reduced the Purkinje cell numbers in the vermis and lobule I, with a higher percentage of cell loss in lobule I compared with the vermis. However, melatonin, per se, neither affected the Purkinje cell number nor diminished alcohol-induced Purkinje cell loss.

CONCLUSIONS

Melatonin was not effective in attenuating alcohol-induced loss of Purkinje cells in our neonatal rat model system, even though such a dosage of melatonin is capable of reversing free radical-induced damage in other tissues.