City College of San Francisco: Darian Valencia and His Insights #2

What's up guys! My name is Darian and I'm a second year undergraduate at my local community college out here in San Francisco, California. I am looking to transfer to a 4-year university for neuroscience next year as a pre-med student. In my free time I enjoy hanging out with my friends, working out, and thrifting.

Reviewed Article: Galantamine prevents and reverses neuroimmune induction and loss of adult hippocampal neurogenesis following adolescent alcohol exposure by Victoria Macht et al.

Main Argument & Findings:

The objective of this article was to determine whether or not Galantamine, a prescription medication used to treat mild or moderate forms of dementia, could prevent or restore damage done to the human brain through AIE (hypothesis). AIE stands for "Adolescent Intermittent Ethanol", a term used to describe a pattern of binge drinking during critical periods of adolescent development. The study employed a rodent model of AIE, utilizing a certified approach by the "Neurobiology of Adolescent Drinking in Adulthood" to experiment with rats rather than humans. Wistar rats were administered Galantamine during AIE or after AIE during abstention while maturing into adulthood.

The article found that, for one, AIE reduces immature neurons (DCX) that are meant to develop from adolescence to adulthood by activating caspase3 (Casp3) within them. Casp3 has a critical role in programming cell death. The study went on the say that this generally well-known concept (in simplified terms, "alcohol harms your brain's development if consumed as a child") is both prevented and reversed by using Galantamine. Furthermore, Galantamine was linked to the prevention and rejuvenation of damage done to neurogenesis. In short, the hypothesis that Galantamine could prevent or restore damage done to the human brain through AIE was proven to be relatively correct by the recorded data. The article's conclusion stated that Galantamine could prevent and restore AIE's damage to the brain's hippocampus and the process of neurogenesis.

Importance for Youth:

This article is heavily linked to the youth as it deals with a problem some youth face: drinking during adolescence. If the youth learns more about this issue and the scientific developments that can be used to reverse the problems caused by it, they may feel inspired to solve problems relating to AIE as well. While the study itself did use rats for their experiments, the data found can be used to influence and create a new experiment focusing on adolescent and adult humans rather than other animals. Furthermore, the conclusion of this study (that being that Galantamine can prevent and restore damage by AIE) encourages the youth to invest in future research and development of similar medications meant to address a vast variety of neurological issues.

What I Learned: 

This article taught me much more about pharmaceutical drugs (especially Galantamine) and how they can be used to address issues beyond the medication's original intentions. While Galantamine is meant to be used to treat mild to moderate dementia, this study proves that Galantamine could address and even solve damage done by AIE. I think that, by conducting more studies similar to these, the data can be used by many professionals for medical applications, healthcare, scientific advancements, and more.

Citations: Macht, V., Vetreno, R., Elchert, N., & Crews, F. (2021, September 16). Galantamine prevents and reverses neuroimmune induction and loss of adult hippocampal neurogenesis following adolescent alcohol exposure - journal of Neuroinflammation. BioMed Central. https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12974-021-02243-7

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darian-valencia-5a40912aa/