TNFα and may be involved in influencing synapses in addition to their possible role promoting neuroinflammation [52, 53]. Additionally, we noted increased cytokine protein expression in the hippocampus (Fig. 4), and cytokines have been implicated in synapse dysregulation in hippocampus neurons in vitro [54]. Alcohol consumption may therefore be inducing microglial activation and changes in cytokine production that could affect the synapse structure function as well as the responsiveness of microglia to CNS immune surveillance and pathogen defense.
