Cerebellar granule cell and Bergmann glial cell maturation in the rat is disrupted by pre- and post-natal exposure to moderate levels of ethanol

Migration of the external granular layer cells in the cerebellum of rats was delayed after exposure to moderate levels of ethanol during a pre-gestational period, through gestation and lactation until weaning. After ethanol withdrawal, cell soma and dendrites were observed to be larger in granule cells. Likewise, Bergmann glia showed several cytoarchitectonic features suggesting cell immaturity, as well as some apparent compensatory plastic responses after ethanol withdrawal. These effects may be due to ethanol impairing neurotrophin-mediated processes during cerebellar development that could lead to alterations in Purkinje cell structure and activity, and thereafter in the psychoneural functions in which the cerebellar cortex is involved.