Ethanol-induced increase in catalase activity in reaggregation cultures of rat brain cells is due to increased oligodendrocyte differentiation.

Recent studies have shown that ethanol exposure of reaggregation cultures of fetal rat brain cells causes an increased activity and amount of catalase, and also an increased activity of the oligodendrocyte marker enzyme 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP). In the present study, reaggregation cultures were grown in the presence of 40 mM ethanol during 17 days, corresponding to a period in vivo from gestational day 17 to postnatal day 12. The activities of catalase, the peroxisomal marker enzyme acyl-coenzyme A oxidase and CNP were increased in ethanol-treated cultures. Immunofluorescence experiments confirmed that catalase mainly resided in oligodendrocytes. By immunoperoxidase staining for CNP followed by image analysis, it was observed that the proportion of CNP-positive cells, as well as the intensity of staining, was increased in ethanol-treated cultures. Thus, the previously reported increase in catalase protein and activity in ethanol-treated cultures might be due to a stimulation, or earlier onset, of oligodendrocyte differentiation.