Chronic ethanol consumption induces neuronal loss in mammillary bodies of the mouse: a quantitative analysis.

Quantitative analysis, using histological sections, showed that chronic ethanol consumption in the mouse produced neuronal loss in the medial mammillary bodies. This cellular loss was not uniform and was more marked in posterior (-30.1%) than in anterior (-8.8%) parts. Moreover, a reduction of the nucleus diameter of the remaining neurons was found. These results are in agreement with patterns of neuroanatomical damage observed in human alcoholics.