Figure 10.

Temporal relationship of binge ethanol induced neurodegeneration and cell genesis. This figure illustrates that bursts of cell genesis occur in the week following binge ethanol treatment but overlap with neurodegeneration due to cell death. Neurodegenerative events (dashed-dotted line) are represented as downward lines on the y-axis whereas regenerative events are represented as upward lines (various lines as indicated in legend). The 4-day binge ethanol model has been studied extensively as a model of alcohol dependence and alcohol induced neurodegeneration. Multiple markers of neuronal cell death, particularly agyrophilic silver stain, have characterized pyramidal cell degeneration in cortical and hippocampal regions over the 4-day binge (Crews et al., 2000). Simultaneous to neuronal cell death during intoxication is ethanol inhibition of neural progenitor cell proliferation, e.g. neurogenesis (dotted line). Symptoms of physical withdrawal, including possible seizures, occur during the first 24 hrs (lightning bolt) post ethanol binge. The T48 burst in microglia proliferation (dashed line) occurs in multiple brain regions including the hippocampus and distinct regions of cortex. These new cells persist at least 56 days if not permanently (Kempermann et al., 2003). The T168 burst in progenitor cell proliferation is restricted primarily to the dentate gyrus and results in more new neurons 1 month later (dotted line; see also Nixon and Crews, 2004).