Figure 1.

Ethanol differently altered the slope of the fEPSP in hippocampal slices from IL-6 tg vs. non-tg mice. (A1) Representative traces of the fEPSP before and after acute application of 20 mM ethanol (EtOH) in non-tg and IL-6 tg (hippocampal slices. For each genotype and treatment, two traces are overlaid showing fEPSP at low intensity (#1) and high intensity (#2) stimulation (applied at the arrow) within the respective I/O protocol. (A2) Representative graph showing I/O relationships for fEPSP slopes (mean ±SEM) over the range of stimulus intensities tested in non-tg hippocampal slices before (open symbols) and after (filled symbols) application of 20 mM ethanol. (B) Graph showing mean (±SEM) normalized values (ethanol/baseline) for fEPSP slopes at various stimulus intensities from 80 to 200 µA for non-tg (triangle) and IL-6 tg (circle) slices exposed to 20 mM (open symbols) or 60 mM (closed symbols) ethanol. Dashed line indicates control values (i.e., 1) for IL-6 tg and non-tg slices. (C) Mean (±SEM) values for normalized fEPSP slopes averaged on an individual slice basis over the range of stimulus intensities used for studies of 20 mM (stripped bar) and 60 mM (solid bar) ethanol in non-tg and IL-6 tg hippocampal slices. Dashed line indicates control values (i.e., 1) for IL-6 tg and non-tg slices. In non-tg slices, 20 mM and 60 mM ethanol significantly depressed the fEPSP slope. In the IL-6 tg slices, 20 ethanol had no effect on the fEPSP slope, whereas 60 mM ethanol enhanced the fEPSP slope. *Significant difference between IL-6 tg and non-tg slices for the same ethanol concentration (Repeated measures ANOVA, p<0.05). ^@Significant difference from baseline values (i.e., 1) for the same genotype (one sample t-test, p<0.05). ^#Significant difference between 20 mM vs. 60 mM ethanol for the same genotype (unpaired t-test, p<0.05).