Effects of chronic ethanol consumption on pyramidal neurons of the mouse dorsal and ventral hippocampus: a quantitative histological analysis.

The effects of a 9-month period of ethanol consumption (followed by 3 or 6 months of withdrawal) on the hippocampus of mice were investigated. Compared with control animals, a loss of hippocampal neurons was observed on histological sections from ethanol-treated mice. This loss was greater in the ventral hippocampus (-18.6% to -18.7%) than in the dorsal hippocampus (-5.2% to -8.5%). However, the nucleus diameter, as well as the number of dendritic spines (studied using the Golgi-rapid impregnation) of the remaining neurons was not significantly affected by chronic ethanol consumption in our experimental conditions.