Cortical microvascular changes in chronological aging, cortical insults and chronic alcohol intoxication in rats. Effects of antihypoxic drug on these phenomena.

Chronic alcohol pulmonary exposure in rats produced a cortical hypervascularization from one to four weeks after the onset of the alcoholization procedure. This alcohol-induced cortical hypervascularization, resembling closely the enhanced cortical vascular network observed in chronologically aged rats as well as around a lesion-induced cavity performed on the cortex, was significantly reduced by a concomitant treatment with Sabeluzole, a chemically benzothiazol derivative with antihypoxic and antiischaemic properties. The blood alcohol level of rats treated with the antihypoxic agent remained stable and constant at a mean level of 1 g/l during a whole 2-week-alcoholization duration in contrast to that of untreated rats which was directly related to the increased alcohol concentration of the atmosphere insufflated in the alcoholization chamber. Finally, a free-choice paradigm achieved after the chronic intoxication also revealed that Sabeluzole-treated rats chose to drink less alcohol as compared to untreated rats suggesting Sabeluzole well modulated the alcohol-induced behavioral preference.