Chunk #34 — Results — Nondependent drinking and alcohol dependence alter cell death, proliferation, immature neurons, survival and neurogenesis in the hippocampal SGZ
Nondependent drinking and alcohol dependence significantly altered SGZ cell proliferation (effect of alcohol, F3,17 = 58.38, p < 0.0001, Fig. 4c). Nondependent drinking animals showed reduced proliferation to the same extent as alcohol dependent animals (p < 0.001, Fig. 4c) compared with drug-naive and trained controls. DCX-IR cells were quantified to assess changes in young immature neurons. An interaction was observed between alcohol intake and immature neurons (early and late phase DCX cells, F3,17 = 4.3, p = 0.017, Fig. 4d), with decreases in early-phase DCX-IR cells induced by alcohol. Nondependent drinking and alcohol dependent animals showed a significant decrease in only early-phase DCX-IR cells compared with naïve and trained controls (early phase cells, p < 0.05, Fig. 4d). Late-phase DCX-IR cells were unchanged in all groups (p > 0.05, Fig. 4d).
