Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of structures of cerebral cortex structure in young people under conditions of chronic alcohol intoxication

Abstract

To study morphological changes of cerebral cortex in young people under the conditions of chronic alcohol intoxication (CAI). Morphometric examination of cerebral cortex fragments obtained from 28 persons who died with a CAI diagnosis (average age was 38 years), and 25 subjects who died from other causes, which are not associated with alcohol consumption (average age was 39 years), was carried out. It was shown that neurons of pathological shapes, including hypo- and hyperchromic, pyknotic and «shadow-like», were dominant in group of CAI. There was an increase in the glial index and a greater intensity of perivascular and pericellular edema compared to the control group. Morphological changes of cerebral cortex under the conditions of CAI are non-specific and largely similar to neurodegenerative alterations in other pathological conditions, senile dementia. Clearer histological criteria for alcoholic encephalopathy are needed, including with the use of immunohistochemical methods.