Most of the research involving the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) has been conducted on young children and young animals. Research on long-term morbidities associated with prenatal alcohol exposure in humans will not be forthcoming for many years. We may be able to anticipate such long-term morbidities through animal studies, but as yet there are few relevant studies from which one can make such inferences. Those which have been conducted suggest that animals prenatally exposed to alcohol show a changing pattern of impairment across their lifespan, particularly with respect to auditory and neurobehavioral functioning. We propose an in-depth evaluation of select morbidities across the lifespan in an animal model of prenatal alcohol exposure. To this end we will study the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the brainstem auditory evoked potential, histologies of select auditory structures, and longevity. The subjects will be the offspring of female rats who have received liquid diets containing either 0 %, 17.5 % or 35 % ethanol-derived calories (EDC) from gestation days 7 to parturition. Animals receiving the 0% and 17.5% EDC will be pair-fed to those receiving the 35% EDC dose. An untreated ad-lib fed control group will also be included. All litters will be removed at birth and placed with non-treated surrogate dams to eliminate possible confounding between gestational alcohol administration and postnatal residual effects on maternal behavior or lactational performance. The offspring will be evaluated cross-sectionally at different stages of their lifespan. This study will advance our understanding about the long-term effects of in utero alcohol exposure on sensory and neural functioning and help clinicians to anticipate the special needs of aging individuals with FAS.
| Church, Michael W; Hotra, John W; Holmes, Pamela A et al. (2012) Auditory brainstem response (ABR) abnormalities across the life span of rats prenatally exposed to alcohol. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 36:83-96 |
