# Long Lasting Effects of Adolescent Alcohol on Blood-Brain-Barrier Function

> **NIH NIH F31** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NY,BINGHAMTON · 2020 · $20,240

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
Adolescent alcohol abuse remains a major public health problem. Beyond the immediate physical ramifications
that alcohol use can have on health, there is growing focus on the long-lasting, negative effects of binge
alcohol consumption in particular. Due at least in part to its significance as a period of neuronal refinement,
adolescence is an epoch of distinct vulnerability to the neuropathological consequences of binge alcohol use.
While many studies have examined changes in normal brain development, few have focused on alterations in
blood brain barrier integrity. This proposal will examine the enduring consequences of binge-like adolescent
ethanol exposure on blood brain barrier (BBB) function using a rodent model. We will determine the extent to
which adolescent ethanol use can impair basal, adult BBB function and identify mechanisms that govern these
changes. This work will expand upon prior research using an established model of adolescent chronic
intermittent ethanol exposure (CIE) that produces sexually dimorphic changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-
adrenal (HPA) axis function and cytokine gene expression that persist into adulthood. Using this model,
adolescent CIE produced increases in brain ethanol concentrations resulting from adult ethanol challenge,
suggesting increased access of small molecules (including drugs of abuse) into the central nervous system.
Adult animals also display increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein in
response to ethanol exposure, providing a putative mechanism for BBB disruption. For these reasons, we
hypothesize that adolescent CIE produces disruptions in normal BBB function that manifest as increased
permeability in adulthood. We propose that increases in VEGF occurring across the cycles of intoxication and
withdrawal produced by adolescent CIE create these changes. Two specific aims will delineate 1) the extent to
which adolescent CIE produces BBB dysfunction in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats and 2) investigate
the role of VEGF-A in producing these changes. This work will significantly change our understanding of how
alterations in BBB permeability affect subsequent responses to future challenge as well as how developmental
ethanol exposure changes the normal trajectory of BBB development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10026292
- **Project number:** 5F31AA027959-02
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NY,BINGHAMTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew S Vore
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $20,240
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-23 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10026292

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10026292, Long Lasting Effects of Adolescent Alcohol on Blood-Brain-Barrier Function (5F31AA027959-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10026292. Licensed CC0.

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