Question: Are adolescent Intermittent Alcohol Exposure : Dysregulation of Thrombospondins and Synapse Formation Associated with Decreased Neuronal Density in the Adult Hippocampus?
Answer: Repeated EtOH exposure during adolescence results in long-term changes in specific astrocyte signaling proteins and their neuronal synaptogenic receptor. Continued signaling by these traditionally developmental factors in adulthood may represent a compensatory mechanism whereby astrocytes reopen the synaptogenic window and repair lost connectivity, and consequently contribute to the enduring maladaptive structural and functional abnormalities previously observed in the hippocampus after AIE.