This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Prenatal exposure to ethanol will reduce the synthesis of vasopressin in the hypothalamus, and the storage of vasopressin in the pituitary, and the osmotic stimulation of vasopressin. These impairments will be greater in rats that were exposed during the last half of pregnancy compared to the first half of pregnancy. The effects of exposure during the entire pregnancy will be the greatest. The primary objective of these experiments is to identify the period of gestation when the developing rat brain vasopressinergic systems are most vulnerable to damage by maternal ethanol ingestion. The major portion of animal experiments has been completed. The main hypothesis was that prenatal alcohol exposure in rats would have a greater effect on vasopressin and oxytocin synthesis, release, and storage when the exposure occurred during the second half of pregnancy than the first. In support of the hypothesis, water drinking was shown to be increased in rats prenatally exposed throughout pregnancy, and the second half of pregnancy, but not in control animals nor in animals prenatally exposed during the first half of pregnancy. Preliminary findings indicate that hypothalamic vasopressin and oxytocin mRNA levels are lower in the animals with the greater drinking behavior indicating that prenatal alcohol exposure is more disruptive to vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic systems during the second half of pregnancy. The data are only partially analyzed at this time since the assays are not complete. The data suggest that if alcohol abuse can be detected early in pregnancy, and if the problem can be corrected, damage to the vasopressinergic systems can be prevented. Since vasopressin pathways are involved in various aspects of learning and memory, counseling may be able to provide more hope to the abusers and reinforcement for the counselors, in regard to avoiding mental retardation in the offspring.
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