Tissue-specific transcriptome recovery on withdrawal from chronic alcohol exposure in zebrafish

Alcohol consumption can lead to a wide range of systemic disorders brought about by transcriptional changes. Recent studies have documented altered behavior and physiology in zebrafish exposed to alcohol. In this work, we have identified the changes in the zebrafish transcriptome in response to chronic alcohol exposure. We have further followed the extent of transcriptional recovery upon withdrawal from alcohol and found evidence of tissue-specific responses. Our results indicate a greater extent of recovery of the brain transcriptome compared to the liver. We identify two distinct classes of genes in response to withdrawal from alcohol exposure - those that recover their pre-alcohol expression profile versus those that retain altered expression even after the fish are removed from the alcohol environment. Finally, we have examined gender-specific responses to alcohol exposure in zebrafish and find evidence for distinct alcohol tolerance levels. Upon chronic alcohol exposure, a higher percentage of genes show perturbation in expression profile in males compared to females. Female fish also recover better with more genes regaining the control expression level upon withdrawal from alcohol. Overall, our work identifies genes and pathways perturbed by exposure to alcohol, and demonstrates the extent of gender- and tissue-specific transcriptional changes associated with chronic alcoholism and withdrawal. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Alcohol exposure can lead to systemic disorders by causing transcriptional changes in zebrafish. This study found that the brain transcriptome in zebrafish recovers better than the liver after chronic alcohol exposure. Genes can be categorized into those that recover their pre-alcohol expression profile and those that retain altered expression after withdrawal from alcohol. Gender-specific responses to alcohol exposure show that male zebrafish have a higher percentage of perturbed genes, while female fish recover better upon withdrawal.