Acute Fetal Ethanol and Behavioral Development

Molina, Juan

Abstract

The proposal is to assess teratological effects of an acute dose of alcohol during gestation in terms of three general classes of offspring behavior. Emphasis is on procedures that are relatively new, both in the schedule of ethanol administration to the pregnant rat dam and for certain of the behavioral tests of offspring. For most of the proposed experiments, ethanol would be administered to the dam on a single day, Gestational Day 8, including two separate, moderate doses of ethanol given either intraperitoneally or intragastrically; for one set of experiments ethanol will be delivered in this way on either Gestational Days 8, 15, 17 or 19. Three separate studies differ in the offspring behavior of primary emphasis. For the first, several indices of sensory motor development will be assessed in the offspring of ethanol-treated and control dams prior to their weanling. For the second, the offsprings' disposition to consume ethanol in adulthood will be assessed, as will their tolerance for the effects of ethanol. For the third, conditioning and learning will be measured in the offspring during postnatal weeks 1 and 2. Our preliminary work with each of these aspects of behavior indicates promise of significant effects from the acute dose of prenatal ethanol. If confirmed, this will add to the recent suggestions that chronic ingestion of ethanol during gestation may not be necessary for teratogenic influences on offspring but that instead, a single episode of binge drinking, particularly during critical periods of gestation, may be sufficient for significant disruption of offspring development in basic sensorimotor capabilities, and perhaps also in the development of intellect and disposition for misuse of ethanol in adulthood.