Laboratory of Neurobiology and Rhythms, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Physiol Behav. 2012 Sep 10;107(2):181-6. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.07.003. Epub 2012 Jul 20.
Melatonin has antioxidant and neuroprotective properties in human beings and experimental models, as well as 'anti-estrogenic' effects. Ethanol (EtOH) affects various behavioral parameters during a period known as ethanol-induced hangover. Our study evaluated the neuroprotective effect of melatonin on motor performance during ethanol hangover in male and female Swiss mice. The females were subjected to specific hormonal states: ovariectomized (OVX) and OVX estrogenized (OVX-E(2)). Mice received melatonin (25 μg/ml) or vehicle in their drinking water for seven days and were given intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of EtOH (3.8 g/kg) or saline on the morning of the eighth day. Motor performance was evaluated by the tightrope test 6h after EtOH exposure (hangover onset). During ethanol hangover, males exhibited lower motor performance than controls (p<0.01) but pretreatment with melatonin significantly improved performance during hangover (p<0.05). In females, melatonin treatment before ethanol-induced hangover led to a better motor performance in OVX compared with intact females (p<0.01) and a lower performance in OVX-E(2) compared with not-estrogenized OVX (p<0.05). Consequently, estrogen reversed the motor performance enhancement afforded by melatonin. We conclude that estrogen interferes with the protective action of melatonin on motor performance during ethanol hangover.
褪黑素在人类和实验模型中具有抗氧化和神经保护特性，以及“抗雌激素”作用。乙醇（EtOH）会在所谓的乙醇宿醉期间影响各种行为参数。我们的研究评估了褪黑素对雄性和雌性瑞士小鼠乙醇宿醉期间运动表现的神经保护作用。雌性动物处于特定的激素状态：卵巢切除（OVX）和卵巢切除雌激素化（OVX-E（2））。小鼠在饮用水中接受褪黑素（25μg/ml）或载体 7 天，并在第八天早上接受腹腔内（i.p.）注射 EtOH（3.8 g/kg）或生理盐水。通过绳索测试在 EtOH 暴露后 6 小时（宿醉开始）评估运动表现。在乙醇宿醉期间，雄性的运动表现低于对照组（p<0.01），但预先用褪黑素治疗可显著改善宿醉期间的表现（p<0.05）。在雌性动物中，与完整雌性动物相比，乙醇诱导的宿醉前褪黑素治疗可使 OVX 动物的运动表现更好（p<0.01），而与未雌激素化的 OVX 相比，OVX-E（2）的表现更低（p<0.05）。因此，雌激素逆转了褪黑素对运动表现的增强作用。我们得出结论，雌激素会干扰褪黑素对乙醇宿醉期间运动表现的保护作用。
