Alcohol-pentazocine combination: implication on the cytoarchitectural profile of the medial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum of juvenile male rats

Abstract

Recently, Pentazocine and alcohol have become one of the drugs abused in the developing countries. However, there is the dearth of information on the effects of these substances on the cytological profile of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and cerebellar cortex; hence this study was aimed at evaluating the effect of these substances on the cytoarchitectural profile of the mPFC and cerebellar cortex of juvenile male rats. Twenty-four juvenile male rats were used for this study. They were randomly assigned to control (A), Alcohol-treated (B), Pentazocine-treated (C), and Pentazocine-Alcohol-treated group (D). Exposure to the various treatment paradigm was done s.c. twice daily (6hrs interval) for 14 days. It was observed that the cytological profile of the mPFC of the rats in the control groups was visible and well defined. In the B, C and D groups, there were numerous forms of neurodegeneration. There was also an increase in the density of astrocytes with the presence of glial scars. Furthermore, features of degenerative changes were also seen in the cerebellar cortex of the rats in the B, C, and D groups. It was observed from this study that exposure to Pentazocine-Alcohol combination triggers inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes in the cytoarchitectural profile of the mPFC and cerebellar cortex in juvenile male rats. These features could impair the functional integrity associated with these brain regions.

Keywords: addiction, substance abuse, opioid, male, young