The major goal is to evaluate the long-term effect of paternal exposure to ethanol, in the absence of maternal exposure, upon the developmental pattern of progeny. Two inbred mouse strains, C57BL and BALB/c, will be used because of their established patterns of high and low ethanol preference, respectively, and because of the extensive information available on their behavioral, neurophysiologic and biochemical profile following exposure to ethanol. The effect of limited exposure of the male mouse to ethanol, prior to mating, upon reproductive indices, growth and early postnatal developmental maturation will be assessed. Postweaning and adult behavioral measures, which have demonstrated sensitivity to subtle functional alterations in developing rodents, will be used. These measures include rotarod performance, passive avoidance learning and swim maze performance and learning. The effect of ethanol challenge on sleeptime and temperature will be determined. These investigations of any differential response of progeny derived from paternal alcohol groups, when compared with control offspring, will serve to suggest the induction of an imprint of paternal ethanol. Any differential effects between inbred strains derived from similar paternal exposure groups will allow for exploration of possible mechanisms for the protracted effect in offspring. The serious implications of alcohol abuse in our society are obvious and the deleterious consequences of maternal drinking on neonates have been extensively studied and well documented. Despite the considerable evidence of the adverse effects of alcohol abuse in the human male, and which includes marked alterations in reproductive function, systematic and detailed experimental study of the long-term functional sequelae of paternal exposure to alcohol is limited. Utilizing a rodent model, this proposal will provide information on any protracted male-mediated effects of alcohol upon the maturation of his offspring.
