Acute ethanol exposure rapidly alters cerebellar and cortical microglial physiology. (28th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stowell, Rianne D.; Majewska, Ania K.
• Other Names: Majewska Ania guestEditor.; Verkhratsky Alexej guestEditor.; Hughes Ethan guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: European journal of neuroscience. Volume 54:Number 5(2021)
• Page Start: 5834
• Page End: 5843
• Publication Date: 2020-02-28
• Subjects: alcohol -- glia -- mouse -- neuroimmunology -- two‐photon microscopy; Nervous system -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14706
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-816X

Abstract

Abstract: Alcohol use is highly prevalent in modern society and ramifications of alcohol abuse pose a large public health concern. Previous work investigating the effects of alcohol exposure on the brain has implicated microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), as critical participants in the brain's response to chronic and developmental ethanol (EtOH) exposure. As rapid sensors of their environment, microglia also have the capacity to rapidly respond to alcohol administration and to contribute to acute effects of alcohol on the brain; however, their acute responses have not been assessed. Here, for the first time, we have examined the acute response of microglia to alcohol intoxication in vivo utilizing two‐photon microscopy to assess the dynamics of these motile cells in both visual cortex and the cerebellum of mice. We found that microglia respond rapidly to EtOH exposure with fast changes in morphology, motility, parenchyma surveillance, and injury response. However, regional differences between the responses of cerebellar and cortical microglial populations indicate that subtle differences in microglial physiology may alter their vulnerability to acute alcohol intoxication. Our findings suggest that the longer‐term effects of repeated EtOH exposure on microglia may result from repeat acute alterations in microglial physiology by single exposure to alcohol which rapidly alter behavior in specific microglial populations. Abstract : Microglia are the immune sentinels of the central nervous system, with their highly motile cell processes, they survey the parenchyma and interact with neural elements. Alcohol abuse causes many deleterious effects within the brain, and some of these occur through signaling to microglia. Using in vivo two‐photon imaging in the visual cortex and cerebellum, we found that ethanol intoxication causes heterogenous changes in microglial morphology, motility, and surveillance dependent on brain region.