Concomitants of alcoholism: differential effects of thiamine deficiency, liver damage, and food deprivation on the rat brain in vivo.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Serious neurological concomitants of alcoholism include Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE), Korsakoff's syndrome (KS), and hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

Objectives

This study was conducted in animal models to determine neuroradiological signatures associated with liver damage caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), thiamine deficiency caused by pyrithiamine treatment, and nonspecific nutritional deficiency caused by food deprivation.

Methods

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) were used to evaluate brains of wild-type Wistar rats at baseline and following treatment.

Results

Similar to observations in ethanol (EtOH) exposure models, thiamine deficiency caused enlargement of the lateral ventricles. Liver damage was not a

SUBMITTER: Zahr NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4919142 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature