PMID- 17685400 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20080612 LR - 20131121 IS - 0260-437X (Print) IS - 0260-437X (Linking) VI - 28 IP - 3 DP - 2008 Apr TI - Effects of postnatal ethanol exposure on neurotrophic factors and signal transduction pathways in rat brain. PG - 370-6 AB - Exposure to ethanol during development induces severe brain damage, resulting in a number of CNS dysfunctions including microencephaly and mental retardation. Potential targets of ethanol-induced neurotoxicity include neurotrophic factors and their signal transduction pathways. In the present study, rat pups were given ethanol at the dose of 5 g kg(-1) via gavage from postnatal day (PND) 5 to 8, and mRNA expression of nerve growth-factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and neurotrophic factor-3 (NT-3) in the cerebral cortex was examined, with attention to signal transduction, on PND 8. The mRNA level of BDNF was decreased by ethanol while those of NGF or NT-3 were not changed. Brain weights were decreased and the levels of phospho-MAPK, phospho-p70S6K and phospho Akt were decreased while phosphor-PKCzeta and phospho-CREB remained unchanged. These results suggest that BDNF and its related signal pathways involving Akt, MAPK and p70S6K are potential targets of ethanol-induced developmental neurotoxicity. FAU - Fattori, Vittorio AU - Fattori V AD - Environmental Health Science Laboratory, Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., 3-1-98 Kasugade-Naka, Konohana-Ku, Osaka 554-8558, Japan. FAU - Abe, Shin-ichi AU - Abe S FAU - Kobayashi, Kumiko AU - Kobayashi K FAU - Costa, Lucio G AU - Costa LG FAU - Tsuji, Ryozo AU - Tsuji R LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - England TA - J Appl Toxicol JT - Journal of applied toxicology : JAT JID - 8109495 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (Central Nervous System Depressants) RN - 0 (Nerve Growth Factors) RN - 3K9958V90M (Ethanol) RN - EC 2.7.11.1 (Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt) RN - EC 2.7.11.1 (Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa) RN - EC 2.7.12.2 (Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases) SB - IM MH - Administration, Oral MH - Animals MH - Animals, Newborn MH - Brain/*drug effects/growth & development/metabolism MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/genetics/metabolism MH - Central Nervous System Depressants/*toxicity MH - Cerebral Cortex/drug effects/metabolism MH - Ethanol/*toxicity MH - Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/drug effects MH - Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases/genetics/metabolism MH - Nerve Growth Factors/genetics/metabolism MH - Organ Size/drug effects MH - Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics/metabolism MH - Rats MH - Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa/genetics/metabolism MH - Signal Transduction EDAT- 2007/08/10 09:00 MHDA- 2008/06/13 09:00 CRDT- 2007/08/10 09:00 PHST- 2007/08/10 09:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2008/06/13 09:00 [medline] PHST- 2007/08/10 09:00 [entrez] AID - 10.1002/jat.1288 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Appl Toxicol. 2008 Apr;28(3):370-6. doi: 10.1002/jat.1288.