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. 2018 Oct 8;13(10):e0204500. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204500

Fig 1. Adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) decreases choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)+IR cholinergic neurons in the adult male and female basal forebrain throughout adolescence.

Fig 1

Modified unbiased stereological quantification of ChAT+IR neurons in the adult (P80) basal forebrain following AIE treatment revealed (A) a significant 27% (±5%) reduction in male subjects and (B) a significant 30% (±6%) reduction in female subjects, relative to CONs. Further, ChAT expression did not differ between male and female subjects. Given that we did not observe an effect of sex on ChAT+ expression, the remaining studies were conducted using male subjects. (C) Modified unbiased stereological quantification of ChAT+IR neurons following intermittent ethanol exposure during early adolescence (i.e. P25—P39) and late adolescence (i.e., P40 –P55) revealed a significant 27% (±6%) and 24% (±7%) reduction, respectively, in the adult male basal forebrain similar to the 29% (±4%) reduction observed following AIE treatment from P25 to P55. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, relative to CONs.