NADPH oxidase and reactive oxygen species contribute to alcohol-induced microglial activation and neurodegeneration

Table 1 Case characteristics of Subjects used for immunohistochemical analyses - Alcohol Consumption

Group	Patients	Age at Death	Sex	PMI	Clinical Cause of Death	Lifetime Ethanol (gm)	Lifetime Drinks	Drinks/Yr	Drinks/Day
Control	1	44	Male	50	Ischaemic heart disease	69000	4929	259	0.71
Control	2	46	Male	29	Acute myocardial infarction	17300	1236	73	0.20
Control	3	48	Male	24	Ischaemic heart disease	59000	4214	183	0.50
Control	4	50	Male	30	Coronary heart disease	5500	393	16	0.04
Control	5	50	Male	40	Haemopericardium	9000	643	26	0.07
Control	6	53	Male	16	Dilated cardiomyopathy	102000	7286	260	0.71
Control	7	60	Male	28	Ischaemic heart disease	0	0	0	0.00
Control	8	62	Male	46	Ischaemic heart disease	5000	357	10	0.03
Alcoholic	1	44	Male	15	Ischaemic heart disease	639000	45643	1902	5
Alcoholic	2	45	Male	7.5	Drowning	1271000	90786	3026	8
Alcoholic	3	49	Male	44	Ischaemic heart disease	1181000	84357	2556	7
Alcoholic	4	49	Male	16	Coronary artery thrombosis	1278000	91286	2608	7
Alcoholic	5	50	Male	17	Ischaemic heart disease	1958000	139857	4371	12
Alcoholic	6	51	Male	27	Gastro intestinal haemorrhage	1863000	133071	3914	11
Alcoholic	7	61	Male	59	Myocarditis	5811000	415071	9224	25
Alcoholic	8	61	Male	23.5	Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease	3158000	225571	5127	14

Brains were collected by the New South Wales Tissue Resource Center brain donor program at the University of Sydney. Complete life-style, medical histories and brain function as well as post-mortem interval (PMI, the time between death and the brain was removed from the body), causes of death and alcohol drinking histories are documented. Among these patients controls averaged less than 1 drink per day whereas alcoholics averaged over 10 drinks per day. Alcoholic neurodegeneration is associated with chronic high levels of alcohol consumption, whereas, there is no neurodegeneration associated with moderate drinkers is related to lifetime alcohol consumption [24–26]. Tobacco smoking history is also documented. Tobacco smoking is commone in alcoholism and often confounds studies of alcoholism. Within our human subjects 6 of 8 controls and alcoholics had a history of smoking, although 3 controls were ex-smokers whereas all 6 smoking alcoholics continued to smoke. Only individuals with alcohol dependence not complicated by liver cirrhosis or nutritional deficiencies were included in this study. All psychiatric and alcohol use disorder diagnoses are confirmed using the Diagnostic Instrument for Brain Studies that is compliant with the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and has demonstrated reliability [27].

ISSN: 1742-2094