Identification of the nuclear transcription factor NFκB in rat brain after in vivo ethanol administration

NFkappaB, a nuclear transcription factor, was induced in the brain nuclear fraction of naive rats after an acute injection of ethanol, 2 g/kg. In contrast, rats which had been chronically alcoholised showed the constitutively active NFkappaB-like complex only after a further acute dose of ethanol. Hepatic nuclear fractions did not exhibit the specific NFkappaB-like complex during the first 45 min after acute ethanol injection, beyond that which was normally constitutively present. Such activation of NFkappaB-like complex in the brains of the naive rats may play an important role in the cellular protective response.