Elevated oxidation of DHA occurs in the brains of rats undergoing alcohol withdrawal. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Elevated oxidation of docosahexaenoic acid, 22:6 (n-3), in brain regions of rats undergoing ethanol withdrawal.
Neurosci Lett. 2006 Sep 25;405(3):172-4. Epub 2006 Jul 26. PMID: 16875780
Ethanol withdrawal is a serious clinical problem owing in part to over stimulation of ionotropic glutamate receptors in the brain and is linked to elevated oxidative damage. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that lipid peroxidation is elevated in the brain tissue of rats fed an ethanol-containing diet for 6 weeks followed by 24h of withdrawal. We measured F(2)-isoprostanes (IsoPs), as products of arachidonic acid (20:4, n-6) oxidation and F(4)-neuroprostanes (NeuroPs), as products of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, n-3; DHA) oxidation. Levels of NeuroPs were significantly elevated in the cerebral cortex (97%) and brainstem (68%) of animals undergoing ethanol withdraw versus control. In contrast, elevations in IsoP content (39%) occurred only in the cerebellum of animals in withdrawal versus control animals. These data demonstrate that DHA, versus arachidonic acid, is particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage in ethanol withdrawal.